A Different Take
by pervertmonster
Summary: After being subjected to a nightmarish experience, Luffy has set off on his adventure to become the Pirate King! This is a fanfic set in an altered One Piece world! Devil Fruits are slightly changed, events that didn't take place in Canon occur, and Luffy is more bloodthirsty! Super!Luffy, Super!Robin and slight LuRo.
1. The Growing Arc

**Hello! Glad you could read this story! Here's an overview of what I want to do with this. The story is just following One Piece, except some concepts have been changed, and events that never took place in One Piece will happen in this! **

**Note, that this still follows the One Piece storyline. I might add new arcs, but it will still follow the Straw Hats on their adventures.**

**I'm new to this whole writing thing, so I would appreciate some feedback on how I do!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

"Ace! Don't do this!"

"They have Luffy, Dadan! I'm going to go get him back!"

The door to the mountain bandit's hideout flew open and a furious Ace ran out. Dadan tried to stop him, but Ace was too strong. He easily escaped the mountain bandit's grip.

"Ace, you don't know that! Makino just said that they were talking about an unruly patient! That's not enough information! It could be anyone!" Dadan shouted at Ace's shrinking form.

"Not enough information?! The facility was built 6 years ago! That's around the same time Luffy disappeared! You won't stop me Dadan! I won't let you!"

"Please, Ace! You can't do this! It's a facility owned by the World Government! If you attack it, you'll be labeled a criminal!"

"Dadan!" Ace couldn't take it anymore. He rushed into the woods where he knew Dadan would have trouble going through. "I made a promise to Luffy! I would protect him no matter what!...I'm a shitty brother, Dadan! I couldn't protect him! I couldn't save him from the World...but that doesn't matter! I'm rescuing him now!"

"Ace! You don't even know if he's in there! Please! Come back!" Dadan's voice was fading.

'I'm sorry, Dadan. I never did tell you that I was going to be a pirate when I reached the age of 17. I'm already 16, but I think I'm going to have to set out earlier than I said I would.' Ace lamented as he allowed himself to remember the years that have gone by.

Dadan had been kind to him his whole life. These past 6 years were rough on everyone as Luffy had disappeared shortly after Sabo had been killed.

He almost tripped on a root. Ace continued as if he didn't notice. He was too deep in thought now, and the darkness would not stop him. He would save his brother this time. No matter what!

The facility in question had been one of many that have been built in the past years. He couldn't remember when it had all started. The facilities were built to study Devil Fruits. Like there were many Devil Fruits out here in East Blue! He should have realized that they were here for Luffy!

'There was more than just nobles on that ship!' Ace angrily thought. It wasn't weird that there was a heavily armed escort with a world noble, but it was more than that. There were scientists and researchers on board. They had quickly built a Facility in the mountains between the main city of Goa and Foosha village. They would look for people to work in the complex, such as maintenance workers or even gardeners for the big garden surrounding the building.

'Pretty stupid thing to have a garden in a building like this.' Ace climbed the high fence surrounding the area.

The complex itself was pretty plain looking. A rectangle building surrounded by a huge greenhouse area. A fence went around the area, but there were many guards posted along it to prevent many of the Corbo Mountain beasts from breaching the fence. Ace was smarter than the beasts and had been studying the fence for weaknesses, which he eventually found.

Makino had actually been enlisted to help out at this research facility. It was a mandatory summons that all the villagers get. She had some friends take care of the bar while she was gone. She was "hired" to be one of the gardeners in the area, as they didn't trust Foosha villagers much, and she had overheard that the researchers had trouble with a patient they've had for a very long time, and they were discussing some options on how to deal with the patient. They mentioned such things as starvation, or beatings, things that had terrified Makino as she knew that's not how to treat someone you would call a patient.

Ace had never been inside the Facility. He didn't want anything to do with the World Government after Sabo's death. He was in the greenhouse section, which wasn't really guarded as the fence would repel the Corbo beasts. Taking a good look at one of the doors leading to the interior of the greenhouse, he picked the lock and was able to get inside. Weird fruits and vegetables were being grown everywhere inside. He noticed that there were some flowers on the plants, but all of the plants were fruits.

Makino told Ace about this patient they were discussing, and he was convinced that it was Luffy. Ace had never trusted the government after the burning of Grey Terminal and Sabo's death. Makino didn't argue, as she felt the same distrust towards the World Government after Luffy's disappearance. Garp had done nothing at all, and he never visited anymore, which was strange since he loved Ace and Luffy. They were his only family left.

Pushing past all the plants, he made his way to what he thought was an entrance to the main building. There were tubes from the greenhouse leading to it, so that must be an entrance. Ducking behind a counter that had something like melons growing on it, Ace saw some guards ahead. They seemed to be on patrol, with all of them walking in one direction. He knew that this wouldn't be so clean, it was heavily guarded after all. He took out a pipe and steadied his breath.

When Luffy had disappeared, Ace was devastated. He couldn't believe that he had lost both of his brothers so quickly. The Dadan gang had supported him through this loss, but Ace believed Luffy was still alive and that he would find him. Older brothers were supposed to protect their weaker siblings.

The crack that the pipe made against the skull of the first guard almost made Ace think he had killed him. The other guards turned to see what the noise was about, but were quickly subdued by Ace's furious swings. Even if it turned out his brother wasn't here, Ace wouldn't let an opportunity to hurt these bastards go by. After they were all taken down in a matter of seconds, Ace hid their broken bodies underneath some of the vegetation. He didn't bother to check if they were breathing or not, he just shoved them somewhere he thought they wouldn't be found so soon.

Ace had searched the entire island for Luffy. He didn't want to take any chances with his brother's safety. Luffy was liable to get lost at times, so maybe he just couldn't take the pressure of Sabo dying and ran off somewhere. Ace would understand, just so long as Luffy came back home. He had never checked this place because Luffy would never come to a building like this.

He reached one of the tubes leading into the building. It was clear of any of the weird plants, and it was pretty barren. There was a vent on the wall that looked like a good way to go further into the facility. Ace pried the vent open with a knife he was carrying. He used this knife to cut animals up and threaten people for money in the past, but now it would serve a better purpose of helping Ace rescue his brother.

Ace remembered the times he had spent with his brothers, and he trained even harder since the day they both taken from his life. He didn't know how strong he was, but he wouldn't let something like limits get in his way. He would be as strong as he needed to be to save his brother.

The main building looked more like a prison on the inside. Ace peered through the ventilation shaft at times to see that there were many rooms along the walls that had small windows that were blocked off. It was very strange, as the only prisons he had seen used cages, not sealed off rooms. He wondered what they were for, but it looked inhumane. There were many doctors moving around, even this late at night. They were talking about many things, such as classifications of Devil Fruits, and if they should bring in more samples from some other facility.

None of this mattered to Ace. He was listening about any news about an unruly patient or a rubber human, or anything that might lead him to Luffy! Nothing else mattered.

"I swear, it's been 6 years now! Patient 1 has an unusually strong will."

Ace stopped. He quickly looked for the source of the noise and saw a tall lanky man in a doctor's outfit. He wore pretty big glasses and had a weird purple afro. He was speaking with a smaller man, maybe less than 5 ft tall, who looked more like he used to be taller but someone squished him. He was a wide man who wore a black suit with a top hat.

If Ace wasn't so serious about looking for his brother, he would have thought these were two of the stupidest people he had ever seen. They were currently standing near an open office which Ace had guessed belong to the man that looked like a doctor.

"It doesn't matter how strong of a will he has, we only need samples and tests that affect his body. His mind nor sanity is needed." exclaimed the short pudgy man.

Ace felt rage boil inside him.

"We have many samples and data from Patient 1. He is a very unique specimen, very unique indeed!"

The pipe became dented as Ace's hand gripped it tighter.

"Has he outlived his usefulness?"

"You cannot outlive usefulness, my friend! We can still use him for many more tests! Why, we were just wondering if a Devil Fruit becomes stronger if the ability user has a strong will! Patient 1 will be an excellent subject, an excellent subject indeed!"

The ventilation shaft exploded and the pieces fell from the ceiling. Ace burst forth and clobbered the fat little man's head with such force that the end of the pipe broke.

"Tell me where he is!" Ace roared as he put the sharp end of the pipe to the doctor's head. The doctor was caught off guard and cried out with surprise as he slammed his back into the wall behind him.

"H-h-hold on there, young man!" The doctor had all but collapsed out of terror. His knees were shaking as he eyed his former companion's head as blood seeped from it. "W-who is this he you are talking about?"

"My brother! Luffy! Where are you keeping him?!" Ace was edging the pipe closer to the man's neck. The man might have been tall, but Ace had grown over the years and was much more powerful than the doctor in front of him.

"You mean Patient 1? He's i-" The pipe clanged against his head and he stumbled from Ace's grasp and fell to the floor dazed.

"His name is Luffy! You will tell me where he is or I'll make sure you'll wish you were the first one I hit!"

Taking another horrified look at the fat little man he cried, "L-L-L-Luffy is on this floor! H-he's just down the hall! Room 4, yes Room 4!" The doctor's afro was dented in and blood had stained the edges of the dent. He looked absolutely terrified of Ace, who wore the expression of a demon.

Ace didn't say a word as he smashed the pipe into the doctor's head one last time. The doctor slumped further into the ground as his body didn't move after the blow. Ace didn't turn to see if they were still living as he stormed down the hall.

He didn't see any other doctors or men in suits, but a guard who had heard the noise opened the door near room 4 to see what the commotion was about, but he didn't have a chance as Ace's fist buried into his head and launched the man further down the hall.

Ace took a moment. He finally found his brother, after all these years! He couldn't help but peer into the room the guard had arrived from.

The world went silent. Ace didn't want to believe what he was looking at, but it was real. Too real for him.

A woman laid in the corner. Her long blonde hair stained with blood. She wore no clothing, as what the guard had planned to do with her involved none. She had shackles on her wrists, but the ones on her feet had been removed. Ace could tell that much by seeing the red marks above her ankles. The room looked like it had been transported from hell, as there were many devices lining the walls, none of them looked like it was intended for comfort. The woman had an expression of deep fear and pain, but her eyes affected Ace the most.

There was no life in them. He couldn't tell if she still breathed or not, but it looked like the woman had died a long time ago.

Not wasting anymore time, Ace rushed to room 4. The door looked much more sturdier than the others. It had only one lock on it, but it appeared to be made of some sort of stone.

Ace tried breaking the door down, but was unable. The stone door was very durable. He looked at the lock and was dismayed to find that he couldn't pick it. He remembered the doctor and the fat man and turned to run down back to their broken bodies.

He was running back towards the doctor, when he heard some shuffling. It came from room 3, the room with the girl in it, and Ace stopped. Could he really help the girl and Luffy? He didn't want to think those thoughts. He wouldn't let these monsters keep Luffy from him any longer.

He reached the doctor and the man. Blood was pooled under them. He must have hit them harder than he thought.

'However hard I hit you two bastards, I wouldn't be able to hit you as hard as you deserve' Ace rummaged around in the doctor's coat and managed to produce a key. He only hoped it was the right one.

A sword being drawn from a sheath could be heard behind him.

'Shit!' Ace looked for a weapon. The pipe he had from before could be used, but it was risky. He also had the knife he used to get into the building.

He turned to face what he thought was his attacker.

Ace saw the woman from room 3 bring the cutlass the guard had to her neck. She was crying.

"Don't! Stop!" She was too far to run to. He knew yelling would let his position be known, but he couldn't just let this woman die in front of him! He needed to-

The woman looked at him. He saw the dead eyes that had frozen him once more. Though she was crying, she pointed a faint smile in his direction.

"Thank you" she mouthed to him

She looked much to thin to produce much blood, and she appeared to not have much left, but Ace could swear a fountain poured forth from her neck.

The key almost dropped from his hand. He couldn't believe that the poor woman did that. He didn't know her name, or know how old she was, but judging by her appearance, she had been here for a while.

If she was driven to suicide, what of Luffy?

Bounding across the room, Ace reached room 4 and threw the key into the lock and turned. It clicked and the door opened.

The tears that wouldn't shed for the woman began to show for his brother. For 6 years Luffy had been taken from him.

Luffy had been in this hell for 6 years.

"_It doesn't matter how strong of a will he has, we only need samples and tests that affect his body. His mind nor sanity is needed"_

Time froze. The world began to grow cold

"_You cannot outlive usefulness, my friend! We can still use him for many more tests! Why, we were just wondering if a Devil Fruit becomes stronger if the ability user has a strong will! Patient 1 will be an excellent subject, an excellent subject indeed!" _

His body was becoming numb. He couldn't take what he was seeing.

"_I made a promise to Luffy! I would protect him no matter what!"_

"...Ace?"

The tears couldn't be held back. Reality was rushing back to him.

"LUFFY!"

* * *

"Ace...this wasn't your fault."

Brought back to the living from his brooding, Ace looked at Dadan.

"Of course it's my fault! I should have noticed it earlier! Luffy had to go through whatever torture they had for them there...I should have been able to notice that they had them."

"There was no way for you to have known, Ace! Even if you did know that they had built that place to study Devil Fruits in the beginning, there was no way of knowing that they would kidnap Luffy!"

The Dadan gang had tried to cheer Ace up, but they were just as shocked as he was.

Ace arrived back at the hideout covered in blood with Luffy on his shoulders. He was heavily injured and was pleading for them to treat Luffy.

They had never seen Ace so distraught. He even cried! Ace might not have known Luffy as long as he had known them, but it was obvious that Ace loved Luffy dearly.

Luffy's injuries were severe. He was malnourished and his body was cut up from whatever experiments they had preformed on him. He was unconscious when Ace brought him back and he was still asleep.

They were surprised to find that his straw hat was intact, but it was odd that he had it after all he had been through.

"Ace, you have to tell me what happened over there."

Ace's head moved towards Dadan quickly. He wore an expression of hate and rage so fierce it made Dadan gasp.

"...they're monsters, Dadan. They were experimenting and torturing people in there. I saw this girl...she looked like she had been there a while. They did horrible things to her..." Ace spoke quietly.

He felt unwell thinking of the woman he couldn't save.

Dadan looked at Ace wearily. She knew that he had gone through much these past 6 years and had discovered something frightening.

There were things she had to know still.

"When the workers from Foosha went down there, they said the facility was destroyed. They were scared that some bandits had gone and ransacked the place. Ace...what happened?"

"...I killed them, Dadan. I killed all those bastards that dared to harm my brother."

Dadan was silent. She never took Ace as a killer, but what had happened there must have changed him greatly. She knew he was still a good person, she had known the brat for his whole life.

If she were there, Dadan didn't doubt that she would do the same thing to the people that had done this to Luffy.

"Wait a minute, didn't you say there were others? Other people being experimented on? What happened to them?"

Ace didn't move. He knew he would have to tell Dadan at some point, but he never knew it would be like this."

"Dadan, you know that they'll get recaptured if they stay on this island."

"If they're smart then they'll get away by boat before anymore marines arrive."

"...I'm planning on going away with them. They're going to be part of my pirate crew."

Dadan stood up from shock. She couldn't believe this! First, they find that Luffy has been maimed from torturous experiments from the World Government, and now Ace decides to take off?!

"Hey! Just wait a minute! Are you planning on leaving Luffy here after what happened?!"

"I said I was planning, but that doesn't mean it's set in stone, Dadan! Who could protect Luffy if I were to leave?! I'm waiting to see how he is before I do anything!" Ace retorted with a strained breath.

He had thought of that. Leaving before Luffy woke up. He had failed Luffy as a brother and he couldn't bear rejection if his brother hated him.

Luffy had told him he was glad that Ace was alive. He had failed to protect Luffy.

They stared at each other for a while in silence. With a huff, Dadan sat back down and sighed.

"Just don't go leaving us all behind, Ace. I could barely hold it together after we lost Luffy. I don't know what would happen if you were to just take off so suddenly."

Ace didn't respond. He was thinking back to the time he had told Luffy he would leave when he was 17.

Could he really keep his word? Ace didn't know. All he could do was wait till Luffy woke up.

"When do you think you would be leaving?"

"We would have to leave before the government finds out that their base is destroyed. One of the doctors was considering asking for more supplies from another facility. I'm not sure if they really even report to anyone."

Ace didn't do much digging around for information after he had burnt the facility to the ground. The patients had all been evacuated and Ace had taken the blonde woman's body from the hall she had killed herself in.

She didn't deserve to burn with these monsters. He buried her in a place that seemed nice.

Dadan made another sigh. "Jeez, we don't even know when they'll check in on the facility. Every day will be more riskier than the last."

"Even if they were, I won't let them touch Luffy! I won't let this happen again if I can help it."

Before they could continue their conversation, Dogra ran into the room. "Dadan! Ace! Luffy's awake!"

* * *

The two rushed out of their seats toward the room Ace and Luffy used to sleep in. They had laid Luffy in the center of the room when Ace brought him in.

Luffy stopped moving around. He was wearing his straw hat which, even after all these years, looked a little to big for him.

Luffy turned towards the new arrivals. A grin split across his face.

"Dadan! Ace! I'm so glad you're both alright!" His voice was the same as ever though it wasn't as high pitch as it was when he was a kid. Ace barely noticed this as he couldn't contain his happiness.

"Luffy! You're alright?! That's great!" Ace ran over and tackled his brother.

"Hey! Be careful! He's still wounded so don't do such careless things!" The room screamed at him.

The two brothers didn't seem to notice as they were reunited after so many years. The room stopped when Luffy suddenly burst into tears

"That's so great! You're all alright! I'm so happy!" Luffy cried. His voice distorted from the tears he shed.

The room was shocked. They were the ones who worried so much about him.

Ace bopped his head with his fist. "Idiot! Why are you crying?! You were the one that was kidnapped! We were the ones worried about you!"

Luffy held his head in some pain. "I thought you all had died! I missed you all so much!". The tears kept spilling from his eyes. His face huge due to his rubber abilities.

"Stop crying, crybaby!" Ace yelled, though he had a tear forming in his eye. He couldn't bear to see Luffy in such pain after reuniting with him after so long. "We're obviously all okay, so there's no reason to cry!"

"I'm just so happy!" Luffy continued, his tears drying up after Ace's command.

"Oh, by the way, can I have some food? I'm starving!" exclaimed Luffy. The room let out a collective sigh of relief. He seemed to be okay for the most part, even if they hadn't seen him in years.

His body was covered in bandages from all the wounds they had dressed. They looked out of place on Luffy.

"Sure, Luffy! I'll get you something to eat." Dadan said, pocketing the handkerchief she had out as she cried a bit when she saw Luffy was okay.

As Dadan exited the room, Luffy looked around. Things seemed to be a bit different than he remembered.

"Hey Ace?"

"Yeah, Luffy?

"What happened? Why did the room suddenly change? It looks a little different."

"Luffy? What are you talking about? You haven't been here for 6 years!"

"What?!" Luffy yelled. "6 years? That's a long time!"

Ace was a bit worried now. "Luffy? What's the last thing you remember?".

Ace cringed. He regretted asking that question because he didn't want Luffy to recall his torture.

"The last thing I remember is running away from some weird people. Everything kinda went dark...and I remember something about people in weird dresses talking about how weird I was."

"So, you don't remember much?" Magra asked. He was concerned as Luffy didn't realize he was gone for 6 years.

"Hmmm..." Luffy took up a thinking pose. He stayed like this for a while and everyone realized he was grunting in concentration. His head took up a red hue and he suddenly gasped for air.

"Ah...thinking hurts. I should stop now so I won't get a fever."

"What?! That's not how it works!" Ace exclaimed. Inside, he was glad that Luffy didn't remember his imprisonment, though he wondered how it would affect him to know that 6 years have disappeared from his life.

"Hey! Where's Dadan with the food? I'm hungry!" Luffy took up another grinned and laughed.

The room felt exhausted, but Luffy was alright after these years, so they couldn't stay too mad at him.

Dadan ran into the room with a bunch of food, Dogra and a few others helped Dadan carry it all in and they threw a mini-feast. This was the first time in a long time since they had all been so happy.

Luffy was finally back and they all felt everything was fine.

* * *

Late at night, Luffy tossed and turned. He and Ace decided to sleep inside this time, as it felt safer to the both of them.

Luffy struggled, all he could see was darkness. He heard voices and screams and they all scared him. He thought this place was bad, and that he should get out as soon as he could.

He looked around, but there was nothing around him. "Ace! Ace! Where are you? Help me, Ace!" he shouted as loud as he could. He felt that if he stayed here any longer, something terrible would happen.

Images started to flash through his mind. Images of pain, agony and fear. He saw other people ripped apart. People being violated. People drugged up, but conscious as callous doctors pulled their insides out.

Luffy wanted out, but he found that he couldn't even move anymore. He looked down at his hands and found they were bound. He had straps going across his body and he was on an operating table. A doctor was leaned over him with a scalpel.

"Hey! Stop! Please! Stop! Don't do this!" Luffy screamed. The doctor didn't listen. Attendants stood around, waiting for orders from the doctor.

The doctor was slowly lowering the scalpel closer and closer to Luffy. He struggled as much as he could, but the straps were too strong. His eyes widened as the blade drew blood from him, the doctor had a maniacal glint in his eyes.

Luffy couldn't take it anymore! This was too much!

He felt a like his head was splitting apart. He wanted to tear this man into pieces!.

Rage began to consume Luffy. Hate and madness replaced his fear.

He couldn't just let this man do this to him! He wouldn't let him!

* * *

Luffy groaned and cracking sounds resounded through the room. Through half-lidded eyes, Ace saw him get up and then hunch over, as if in pain.

"Luffy? You okay? What's wrong?" Ace was beginning to get up. There was something wrong in the air.

Ace was answered by up sound of an unearthly shout. He stumbled as he tried to quickly stand, but he was smashed through the wall behind him and was sent outside the house.

He looked up to see what had hit him but the figure moved too fast to be seen. He was sent flying towards a tree and he flipped so that his feet would land on the tree.

Pulling his knife from its sheath, he gasped as breathing had become more difficult.

The air became suffocating. Ace was having trouble focusing his eyes.

Looking up, he saw his attacker. The thing had white skin and had no discernible features.

Ace hadn't seen anything like it.

It looked just like some white silhouette. The face had no eyes, but there was a thin line where a mouth should be.

"What the hell?! Who are you?!"

Ace didn't get an answer as the beast threw its hand out at him. To Ace's horror, the limb stretched towards him with great speed and almost hit him right in the face. The fist landed against the tree he had stopped his flight with and it was broken at the site of impact. It began to collapse as Ace realized that the arm had stretched like rubber.

"Luffy! No! What's happened to you?!"

He didn't get an answer, but the thing had used the reverse motion of his arm and was rocketing towards Ace. The thin line grew into a large grin, but it wasn't like Luffy's gleeful smiles.

It was one filled with malice and madness. The teeth had become sharp at the end.

Ace couldn't move. This monster was his brother.

He was like this because he couldn't protect him from the world that had taken Sabo away.

The world grew dark as Ace was overpowered by the aura the creature exuded.

The tree landed on both of them just as the thing had reached Ace, fingers on the other hand outstretched to grab Ace's face.

* * *

Ace awoke inside his bedroom. The wall was still broken, but some members of the Dadan family were working on it. He saw Luffy next to him, asleep with a bubble of snot coming from his nose.

He had a bit of a smile on his face as he snored happily.

Ace's vision blanked out and Luffy's face was replaced with that featureless monster.

It wore that great big fearsome grin as its hand encompassed his face and he could feel the powerful grasp that it began to apply.

He was shook from that terrible memory when someone had noticed that he was awake and called for Dadan.

She was shaking his shoulder in worry.

"Ace...Ace! Are you alright?"

Ace noticed that he was covered in bandages and it felt like everything in his body had been crushed.

He grunted, and looked at Dadan.

"Hey...what happened last night? All I remember is getting attacked and then..."

He remembered the tree falling on him and the monstrosity. It was a pretty big tree, which is why it was surprising that the beast could down it in one punch.

"You tell me. The only thing we know is that we heard this scary cry in the middle of the night, and two loud crashes. We found you and Luffy underneath a tree outside." Dadan let go of his shoulder. She walked over to Luffy and knelt next to him.

Luffy continued to snore, blissfully unaware that he was being talked about.

"...I think they did something to Luffy." Ace muttered. He still felt guilty about Luffy's kidnapping

"Ace...you have to let it go. Luffy doesn't blame you for it and there was nothing you could have done."

"No! I could have been there for him! I was supposed to protect my wea-"

"Stop this Ace!" Dadan yelled as she turned to face him.

Luffy's bubble burst and his eyes opened a bit, though he still wore his grin on his face.

"You have to realize you can't be there for him all the time! What happened was something that was unfortunate, but we all have to move on! Luffy doesn't even remember any of it!"

"Morning already? Ah! Ace! Want to go catch some food? I'm hungry!" Luffy yelled energetically. It seemed that he didn't realize what had happened last night.

"Luffy? What's the last thing you remember?" Ace had to know if Luffy knew about this.

"Huh? This question again? I was chased by a bunch of strange looking people and I guess they must have caught me." Luffy answered. It seemed he didn't recall last night's events.

"Oh! By the way, were you the one that got my hat back, Ace?" Luffy asked. "I kinda remember that it was taken from me by those weird people."

Ace had gotten his straw hat back. It was located in the office that belonged to the purple afro man he had interrogated.

The straw hat was in good condition, though it had gathered dust. It must have just sat there in the corner.

"Yeah, I did. I was lucky that I came across it before I left."

"Ah! Thank you, Ace! I don't know what I would have done if I had lost my hat." Luffy was now bouncing towards the door. His stomach could be heard grumbling from afar.

"Wait! Luffy! You can't go yet! You're injured!" Dadan cried. She lept forward to stop him, but he had already kicked the door open and ran off.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed, " Don't worry about me, Dadan! My injuries are mostly healed by now!"

"What? But you had injuries that would cripple normal people! Ah...he's gone." Dadan walked back to Ace.

"What did you see last night?" Dadan demanded as she sat down.

"Luffy...or, what I think was Luffy attacked me." Ace's eyes darkened. He couldn't really understand how this had happened. How his lovable little brother could turn into that creature.

"What do you mean, you think Luffy attacked you? You couldn't tell?" Dadan pressed.

"It was just this human shaped monster. It was all white, and it only had a mouth."

"What?! That's pretty creepy. I've never heard of something like that."

"Yeah, me neither. The reason why I think it was Luffy is because it stretched its arm at me. Like Luffy would if he was able to aim right."

Dadan put her hand to her chin. This was a bit much to take in. That Luffy could be a danger to the whole Dadan family, his family. She could think of a few things to do, but she didn't want to isolate Luffy from everyone.

"Ace!" Luffy could be heard from outside, " Cmon already! I'm hungry! Hurry, hurry!"

"Stop yelling!" Ace yelled, "I'll be right out!". He took a look at Dadan and said, "Dadan, I'll keep an eye on Luffy, you go tell Makino that Luffy's back."

"Stupid brat! I don't take orders from you!" Dadan got up.

"I was planning on doing that anyway. That girl truly missed Luffy. She knew him much longer than I have. It must have torn her up inside when he went missing."

Makino rarely visited since Luffy disappeared. She came up sometimes, but she would have a dark depressing aura around her. Luffy could be compared as a son to Makino, and she knew that he didn't have many people in his life.

She came up to tell them that she had overheard the faculty in the facility talk about someone who could have been Luffy.

Ace remembered the desperation in her eyes. She had shown him the path that led him to Luffy. He felt indebted to her.

"Alright. I'm off, Dadan! I'll see you later." Ace ran out. He didn't want Luffy to get too impatient to run off on his own. That's what led to all of this in the first place.

Ace arrived outside and he saw Luffy near the hole in the wall. He walked over to him and bumped him on the shoulder.

"Hey! Ace!" Luffy rubbed his shoulder, "What's this hole doing here? I don't remember it being here last night."

"What? You just noticed it? You were in the room, you know." It seemed Luffy was as slow as ever.

"Ah! Whatever! Let's go catch something to eat!" Luffy started his run into the forest.

"Hey! Wait a second! Slow down, you idiot!" Ace took off after him.

Luffy ran much faster than he should have, Ace noted. He had been in that facility for a long time, but it seemed to only boost Luffy's strength. They ran past the wrecked tree and went down to the river. Ace watched Luffy the whole time to see if anything was off.

He seemed just as he was before he was taken.

"Alright! Meat! Watch this, Ace!" Luffy yelled as he readied his fist at a alligator near the bank.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" His fist flew at the alligator, though it was much slower than Ace expected and it impacted with reptile's head.

Luffy had sent the beast into the water, but Ace could tell it wasn't enough to kill it.

'What's going on? He should have been able to split the thing's skull in two!' Ace thought as he readied his pipe.

He hadn't bothered to replace or even clean it from the time he had invaded the facility.

Luffy had stopped. He stared at the pipe in Ace's hand, even as the alligator came up to swallow him whole.

"Hey! What are you doing, Luffy?!" Ace pushed his brother out of the way and jumped above the alligator that came crashing into the ground where Luffy once stood.

Luffy wouldn't respond. He just stared listlessly at Ace. He seemed to have his mouth open and couldn't speak.

Memories of blood and torture ran through his mind. Needles piercing skin and liquid flowing from it to him.

Ace shoved the pipe deep into the alligator's skull. Blood and brain matter seemed to erupt from the beast and its life slowly faded away.

He heard muffled screaming so he quickly looked over at Luffy, who had his head wrapped in his hands. Luffy's eyes closed tightly and he clenched his teeth so hard Ace could hear his teeth scrape together.

"Luffy! What's wrong? Are you alright?!" Ace jumped over to see what was happening to Luffy. This was just a normal thing they used to go through, what could possibly make him act this way?!

Luffy didn't acknowledge Ace. He kept screaming and a cracking noise could be heard in the air. Ace was surprised to see that Luffy's skin started to turn white and his clothes started to seep into his skin.

"Luffy!" Ace shook his shoulder. All of a sudden, the noise stopped and things seemed to return to normal.

"...Ace? What's happening? What's going on?!" Luffy screamed. He still wouldn't let go of his head. "I'm scared, Ace!"

"Just calm down!" Ace smacked Luffy's head. He would have felt bad about that if he wasn't scared. He didn't want his brother to become that thing again if he could help it.

"Ouch! Why did you hit me?!" Luffy cried. He clutched his head and it seemed whatever was happening stopped.

"Shut up! Don't freeze like that when we're hunting! Last time I checked, I still don't like cry babies so stop that!" Ace couldn't help but get a little angry. The process seemed to stop, so he wasn't so worried at the moment.

"I...I couldn't help it, Ace. I just remembered some bad things..." Luffy trailed off. His eyes were downcast. "Ace...is everyone alright?"

"What do you mean, Luffy? Of course everyone is alright." Ace didn't want to mention the guards, doctors and the blonde lady. Those had been the only ones to die and he didn't want Luffy to know anything about that.

"It's just...I saw a lot of people get hurt, Ace." Ace looked Luffy in the eyes. Luffy seemed worried.

"I just want to know if they're okay." Luffy his voice was serious.

Ace struggled with himself. He really didn't want to tell Luffy_._

"...most of them made it out. There were some people who didn't, but in the end, all the people that were trapped there are okay."

Luffy seemed to brighten up at the news.

"That's good! How about we start working on this guy now?" He asked while eying the alligator's cooling corpse.

"Sure, I'll go get a fire going."

"Yay! Meat!"

* * *

"Gum Gum Rocket!"

Luffy called out as we went rocketing towards the bear. He hit it in the gut with tremendous force, breaking it's ribs. The bear cried out in pain and stumbled backwards where Ace was waiting with pipe in hand. He swung it and bashed the back of it's head, stunning it. It toppled over and Luffy had already hopped from it's stomach, hand already outstretched in the air above him.

"Gum Gum Bullet!" His hand stopped its ascent and began to fall and slam into the creatures head. The force caused its nose to collapse into its head, killing the beast. As it lied there, Luffy grinned at Ace.

"Alright! Ace! We're the best!" Ace couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah, we're the best cause we can beat all the biggest animals on this island." Ace said with a grin. He was being sarcastic, but Luffy's enthusiasm was infectious.

"Shishishi! Well, enough waiting! Let's eat!" Luffy didn't wait for Ace as he just took a bite out of the neck of the creature.

"Hey! Luffy! What have I told you about eating things raw! Wait for the fire first!" Ace whacked Luffy with his fist. Luffy pouted while he held his head.

"Aw, but I can't help myself! You know that if I see food, I eat it..." Luffy muttered.

Ace did know what he was talking about, but for different reasons. Luffy seemed to be a bit more direct and ruthless than he used to be. It's been almost a year since he had saved Luffy from the facility. It was currently November, and Ace knew that he didn't have much time to stay due to his promise to leave when he was 17.

"Hey, Ace? Fire? Remember? Jeez, idiot" Luffy took another bite. Blood spewed from the wound and covered Luffy with it.

"I don't want to hear that from you, idiot!" Ace yelled as he thought about hitting Luffy some more. It's not like he can give Luffy brain damage. You needed a brain for that.

He thought more about Luffy's condition as he started working on a fire. After some time, Luffy returned to how he kinda was before the kidnapping. Personality issues aside, he was surprisingly open about the tortures he endured. It's as if it didn't happen to him, but had witnessed it instead.

Ace managed to start a fire without much trouble. He always had a kind of affinity for flames. He stared at it before telling Luffy to bring the corpse over so they could cut it up. Pulling his knife out, Ace began to strip the fur from the bear. They could sell this for a high price.

Luffy grumbled, "...I could eat it now..."

"Don't you dare."

"Ahh! Whatever, Ace! I've eaten things raw before! What's the problem now?"

"It's disgusting watching you eat." Ace wondered if eat was too weak of a word to describe what Luffy did to his prey.

"Shishishi! I bet you just want more meat for yourself!"

"Damn straight. I barely get enough now since you're here. You use your ability to grab as much food as you can and shove it into your mouth."

Luffy had become much faster and stronger as a result of his imprisonment. He mentioned that the scientists wanted to see how strong they could make him, but he gained too much power in a short period of time. They had to lock him up and subdue him with sleeping gas when they wanted samples.

"Told you my rubber powers are powerful!"

"You still can't win against me though." Ace smirked at Luffy.

Luffy returned with a grin, "Someday, Ace! I'll be stronger than you!"

"_You have to realize you can't be there for him all the time!"_

'I sure hope so, Luffy' thought Ace, recalling Dadan's words.

After they had finished their meal, they sat on the forest floor and looked up into the sky. The sun was blocked by some trees, so they were able to look into the vast blue of the sky.

Some time passed by. The brothers were just enjoying the company. Luffy frowned a bit.

"Hey, Ace?"

"Hm? Yeah, Luffy?"

"How old are you now?"

The question took Ace by surprise. "...I'm 16, Luffy. In January, I turn 17."

"Ah. I see."

More silence passed by.

"...Why do you ask, Luffy?"

"Ah! Because you're leaving when you turn 17, right?"

Ace didn't want to answer. He was just reunited with his brother. He didn't want to leave so soon. Not when-

"Shishishi! You'll see, Ace! I'll be the Pirate King!"

"What?" Ace couldn't help but be shocked. Luffy still held onto that dream?

"I'll be the Pirate King! Remember? That's my dream!" Luffy grinned at Ace.

"...Heh, we'll see, crybaby."

The two could be heard laughing for a while.

Ace didn't expect this. Luffy seemed to be...normal. After everything he went through, he still stayed the same. His stay was prolonged enough as it was. Foosha Village had actually taken in the refugees from the government facility for a while. The populace was surprisingly welcoming, as they couldn't refuse the people help. Many of the refugees had come from different seas, some of them even came from the Grand Line.

The people he saved told Ace that they owed their lives to him. The things they had been put through had scarred them all. They couldn't return to a normal life.

Luffy was no exception. He carried his scars silently. Nightmares plagued Luffy and he rarely slept anymore. It was one of the things that had changed him. Ace worried for his health, but Luffy shrugged him off and laughed, saying that he'll be alright as long as he gets a steady diet of meat.

"Ah! I think we should catch something for the others! We could have a party and have lots of fun!" Luffy exclaimed. He never like being alone anymore and would always want to be with his friends.

"Sure, Luffy. Let's do that." Ace said as he got up. "What do you feel like hunting now?" He fingered his knife. He always made sure to clean it as much as he could and carried it whenever he went.

"How about tiger? I love tiger meat!"

"Luffy...you love every kind of meat." Ace sweat dropped. Hopefully they wouldn't come across anything small enough to fit inside Luffy's mouth. Well, everything could fit in Luffy's mouth.

"Shishishi! I know! Maybe we'll find little snacks along the way!" He licked his lips and grinned.

Ace always told him to be careful with his excitement. He didn't know why, but when he got excited, Ace would get scary looking.

Ace paused as he saw the maniacal glint in Luffy's eyes. Ever since his near transformation, Luffy never showed the monster again, but the idea always kept Ace on the edge.

"Alright, enough stalling. Let's get moving!" Ace told Luffy as he ran by.

"Alright! Here we come, meat!" Luffy chased after Ace.

* * *

It was now January in the Goa Kingdom.

It was finally time.

Ace was standing in front of a grave he had dug almost a year ago. There was only a simple stone tombstone with no name on it.

This was the grave of the blonde woman that had killed herself in front of him.

He didn't know why he would come here. He visited the grave at times to remember the tragedy from last year.

To remember how he had found his brother in a twisted facility.

Ace made sure to burn the entire facility down. He had asked some of the survivors the significance of the greenhouse that surrounded the bland building.

The surviving patients told him that the greenhouse was special. The Devil Fruit eaters they managed to bring here were in poor conditions at all times as they performed various experiments on them.

The greenhouse was for the "failures" from those experiments.

Ace wasn't sure what that meant, but he was certain he didn't want to know.

He had told everybody that nothing remained from the blaze. That wasn't exactly the truth.

There was something that had been spared. He had left it here.

He dug into the ground next to the grave. He had buried it in a box he used to keep his treasure in.

As his hands touched it, he was uncertain if he should go through with this. There was no going back once he went through with it.

Then he thought of the things he would have to face on the sea. He had a good crew that could help him to start off, and they were all loyal to him since he had saved them from that hell.

Making up his mind, he pulled the box from the ground and opened it. Pulling its contents out and stuffing it in one of his pockets, he reburied the box and stood yet again in front of the grave.

The thing had belonged to this woman, he was sure of it. He was told that she was forced to wear special sea-stone handcuffs at all times, and as a precaution, they had inserted sea stone into her body so she wouldn't be able to use her ability.

The greenhouse was there to produce Devil Fruits after the original host had died.

He did a short prayer. This woman was not known to him, but he saw a part of her pain and regretted not being able to help her.

"Ace! Where are you?!" Luffy's voice could be heard in the distance. Ace didn't want Luffy to find him here. It would completely ruin his tough guy image.

"Thanks again. I'll make sure no one has to suffer what you had to go through" Ace whispered as he turned and walked away.

"_Thank you"_

He could still remember her mouthing those words to him as he walked away.

She didn't even have enough strength to speak as she took her own life.

* * *

He arrived at some docks they had all built. There were many survivors from what was locally named the "Goa Incident".

Odd that they would call that an incident when they covered up the Grey Terminal "purification" 7 years ago.

The ship they had was one they had stole from some marines. Ace wouldn't mention any of this to Luffy, but that ship was there to check on the facility. There were no survivors as they procured the ship.

Many of the survivors were, oddly enough, not Devil Fruit eaters. They were just tested on by the scientists and doctors to see if they could replicate effects of Devil Fruits, or test the abilities of Devil Fruits on.

He was told Luffy was possibly the scariest test subject to go against as he was known as a demon who would eat his opponents.

Ace, at first wouldn't believe them, but he was more convinced as time went by. He had been told that it really wasn't Luffy's fault. Luffy had been starved and was put on many different drugs to make him believe that he was being attacked. The survivors understood that it was kill or be killed, and they were lucky that Luffy wouldn't exactly kill them.

It wasn't pleasant to be eaten alive though, as they retold their tale to Ace.

The Dadan family and Luffy had been waiting at the docks for him. Dadan was absent, but he didn't mind. He left a note for her that he knew would make her cry. She was too easy to read sometimes, he thought with a smile.

"Ace! You're here! Thought you were going to miss your ship!"

"Luffy, there's no way I would miss this. I just had to go get something first."

"Huh? Wait! Don't tell me you were off stealing the food I hid underneath our base!"

"Luffy...you really can't keep a secret sometimes, can you?" Ace and the Dadan family sweat dropped.

One thing that hadn't changed about Luffy was that he was as brainless as ever.

"Oh! So you didn't? That's good." Luffy sighed in relief. He didn't want anyone to take that before he got back.

"So that's the feeling you express towards your brother as he's leaving? Worried that he took your food?" Ace said with a grin.

"Hey now! We'll meet again and when we do, I'll be much stronger, Ace! You just wait and see!" Luffy grinned at him. He held his fist out for Ace to bump.

Ace obliged him and bumped his fist with his. "You better, Luffy! But remember, you'll never be as strong as me!" Ace couldn't help but smirk at his brother.

Luffy and Ace had trained as hard as they could together in what little time they had left. It was kinda hard to do so since they had been visited by Makino almost every day. She cried in happiness as she saw Luffy and wanted to see him as much as possible.

Ace nervously asked her if she could teach him manners. He, Luffy, and Makino spent a lot of time together as Ace learned more on how to act polite.

"Shishishi! We'll find out later!" Luffy shouted as Makino and the Mayor arrived. Everyone was finally here.

"Alright, Luffy! Everyone! Be sure to keep reading the papers! I'll be a famous pirate someday!" Ace yelled as he jumped onto the ship.

His crew mates were already to leave. They didn't really like company, but they waved at the group on the shore. They were indebted to the Foosha villagers and the Dadan family.

* * *

Everyone was saying goodbye as the ship set off. Ace kept waving his arm as the island slowly faded from view.

He had finally set off to start on his dream.

Many crew members had passed by, making sure everything was working as they sailed away.

Ace smiled as he realized he would need much more strength if he wanted to protect his family on the ship. He walked away to the helm.

"Captain? Anything wrong?"

He removed the object from his pocket and held it to his mouth.

"No. Nothing's wrong."

Ace took a bite of the Devil Fruit he had taken from the grave.

"I'm just glad that we're setting off on a new adventure!"

* * *

"Alright! Back to training!" Luffy yelled as he ran back to the forest.

It had been about a month since Ace had set off, and they were already hearing things about him.

He even had a bounty poster! They called him, "Fire Fist Ace".

Which was weird because Ace didn't have a Devil Fruit, thought Luffy.

His arm stretched out and grabbed a tree. He pulled himself to it, let go, and went sailing through the air some distance before he crashed into the ground.

"Shishishi! I need to get stronger and stronger! So much that I can protect everything!"

Luffy had arrived in the area he used to fight Ace and Sabo in. Ace and Luffy had used this area to train themselves for a while and the land was marked by craters.

Making sure his hat was still on his head, he walked to the center and sat down. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate.

He focused on the feeling of hunger and pain.

As he did this, his skin started to turn white and his face was beginning to lose its features. He looked up. He didn't want to tell Ace this new trick he had found out.

It was still hard to concentrate, but it granted him a bit more strength than usual.

Luffy was a little worried he might get a fever though.

"Alright! Let's see what I can do!" he shouted as he stood up. The white skin turned back into his tannish skin and his features returned. Luffy frowned. He was disappointed that he wasn't able to do much with it.

"Gah! I still can't get it right..." he muttered as he turned back to normal.

He walked to a tree and looked at it. It seemed pretty sturdy. At least, until Luffy stretched his arm back and slammed his fist into it. The tree cracked and splintered as it fell over.

Luffy jumped out of the way and watched as it crashed into the ground, dust blowing up as it landed.

Even without that transformation, he was still quite strong.

He grinned. He felt a little hungry and decided to go hunting.

* * *

After a short walk, he came across a giant boar. It was stripping berries of a bush and was too late to notice Luffy standing next to it.

It's eyes widened as it saw a drooling human wearing a hat next to it. Luffy licked his lips as the boar started to run away.

"Not so fast! Gum Gum-...!" He spoke as he jumped into the air, his legs stretching towards the boar, curling around each other before his feet grabbed its head.

"...Giant Hammer!" The boar went twisting through the air and eventually slammed into the ground headfirst. It didn't move after the dust had settled around it and it fell onto its back.

"Alright! Meat! Ace! Get the fire re-..." Luffy began, but trailed off. He forgot Ace had gone on for a second.

"Ah! Oh well! I think I can just get a fire started!" He started to get a fire going, but stopped midway. He looked at the boar hungrily.

"Well...Ace isn't here and I can just eat it as is...". Reluctantly, he got up and walked to the boar's corpse. He opened his mouth wide and took a bite out of it.

The warm blood tickled his throat as he swallowed. The meat was juicy and delicious.

Wasting no more time, Luffy quickly began to consume the corpse. Eventually, there was nothing left but bones and Luffy sat down, belly comically bloated.

"That was good! Shishishi! I don't know why Ace didn't want me to do that!" Luffy shouted. He grinned a bit, but he couldn't notice the sharpness of his teeth as he began to wonder what to do next.

3 years. That's how long Luffy had to wait till he could set sail. All of this time, but Ace had gone on already.

Luffy jumped up. After warming up a bit, the extra weight disappeared and he began to train. His training consisted of stretching as far in the air as he could with his limbs and lift heavy rocks.

Also, he needed to eat every creature that he ran into because meat made him stronger. He didn't understand why it did, he just felt better after eating.

* * *

After his workout, he ran back to the Dadan hideout with an alligator he had killed. When he arrived he wanted to throw another party, as everything was better with laughter and noise. Makino had visited and everything was better.

Late at night, Luffy laid outside the hideout. He looked up into the sky and wondered how long 3 years was. The days were getting a bit longer without Ace.

He shook his head. He couldn't be thinking like this! He needed to get stronger so he could show Ace who was better!

After much training, Luffy had passed out in the forest. His nightmares hadn't stopped, but they didn't really disturb Luffy that much. He had to be brave!

He would no longer fear his nightmares!

Luffy had felt a presence in his nightmares though. It felt like something was next to him as he witnessed the atrocities that were committed in the place he had been held in.

The presence would never make itself known, but Luffy could sense something off about it. He felt an all consuming rage coming from it and he never wanted to meet it if he could help it.

Shortly after waking up, Luffy ran outside.

Whatever it was, it had never attacked him or hurt him. Another day had ended and this one was just beginning.

Luffy wondered what kind of adventures he could have today.

* * *

The three long years passed by.

Luffy continued to train as much as he could, and today was finally the day! He was going to set off after his brothers and become the Pirate King!

"Hey, Luffy! Wouldn't you want to set off on something else? I think I got a boat you can borrow!"

"Nah! No thanks! I'd rather set off with this." Luffy replied. He was setting off from Foosha village and the villagers had all come to say goodbye.

Luffy had already said his goodbyes to the Dadan family. He managed to make Dadan cry.

Luffy laughed. She was too easy to read sometimes.

He waved back at the villagers. They had all been so kind to him and he would miss them all. Makino and the mayor especially.

"Sabo! Ace! You may have taken off before me, but I'll catch up to you!" Luffy shouted to the sky. The villagers were a bit confused, but attributed that to him being Luffy.

Something emerged from the sea behind Luffy. The ripples from the emergence shook Luffy's boat.

Luffy looked behind and saw the seaking that had taken Shank's arm so long ago.

"So, it's you?" Luffy looked up at it. The beast had gotten bigger from 10 years ago.

It started rushing towards him, but Luffy still had a smile on. He stretched his arm backwards until it reached a sufficient distance.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" He cried as his fist shot forward. It caught the seaking by surprise as it impacted with its face. The force behind the blow was so strong that it had actually launched it out of the water

The villagers were stunned by Luffy's strength.

He had gotten much stronger than that little runt they used to see running around the village.

"Shishishi! See the results of my training? I'm just going to get stronger and stronger! Until I become the Pirate King!"

Luffy shouted into the sky. Watching him on that day, everyone agreed that they felt that he could actually do it.

* * *

Some time had passed since Luffy set sail.

"Oh? This might be trouble."

He was currently trapped in a whirlpool and drifting closer to the center where it would sink the boat.

Luffy sighed. "This would really suck if my adventure ended here. What should I do?"

He thought for a while. While he was thinking, he was losing precious time.

"Ah! I know!"

He dumped the contents of a barrel he had on board and he sealed it shut.

Listening to the roar of the whirlpool was making him sleepy. Before passing out, he wondered if this was a good idea.

* * *

**Combined the first 6 chapters or so in what I call, "The Growing" arc. **

**Hope you all enjoyed it!**


	2. First Friends and the Pirate Hunter

**Re-updated this chapter yet again. I hope they're aren't too many errors still and that it's entertaining for everyone!  
**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"Move aside, Coby!" The pirate said as he shoved a purple haired boy down to the ground.

The boy named Coby moved to cower in a corner.

Coby had found the barrel on the shore. It was pretty heavy, but he was able to roll it over to their temporary base.

"Okay! Please, just don't beat me!" Coby said. The three pirates that had been around had ordered Coby to bring it to the wine cellar so they could all have a drink.

Alvida would have clobbered them to death if she found out, but Coby was the only one around. They knew that if he squealed, they would bring him down with them.

As one of the pirates began to open the barrel, a man suddenly burst forth from the top. The pirate flew and crashed into a wall. He slid down it, seemingly unconscious.

"Ah! What a nice nap that was!" The man shouted. Coby and the other two just stared at him. He wore a straw hat, a red vest, and shorts. He was also a bit tall as he seemed to tower above Coby, and even the other two pirates.

"Huh? Who are you guys?" He asked.

"That's what we should be asking! Where the hell did you come from?!" The two pirates that remained yelled.

"Stop slacking off!" A voice could be heard outside.

The wall exploded, making the building collapse. Something had been thrown at it and the barrel with the man in it was sent flying outside.

Coby followed the man. He saw that the object that was thrown at the building was Alvida's mace, and he didn't want to suffer any punishment Alvida had in mind for them all.

Coby had seen many men plead for death from the punishment Alvida inflicted upon those who disobeyed her.

Who knew such a large and spiky weapon could fit in such a small place?

* * *

He found the man already outside the destroyed barrel. From what Coby saw, the barrel had been struck by the mace which sent it flying outside.

"Hey, are you alright?" Coby asked, a bit wary of the stranger

"Shishishi! I was just surprised! That was exciting! Hey, what's your name? I'm Luffy!" The man asked. He stretched his body a bit. "Ah! That was a nice nap!"

"My name is Coby. I'm a care-"

"That's not important." Luffy interrupted. Coby seemed a little upset that he wasn't allowed to finish. "Do you have a small boat I could have? Mine was destroyed in a whirlpool."

'What the-? He came from a whirlpool?" Coby thought. This man was very strange, and he was always smiling.

"Y-Yes, I have small boat." Coby said hesitantly. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell this man about his escape vessel, but he didn't have the courage to lie.

Coby led Luffy to the boat he had worked on during his captivity. It was poorly made, but he had tested it and it would float.

"What's this? A coffin? I'm not so sure I want this." Luffy said.

Coby looked depressed. He had worked on this boat for two years. "Well, it'll float. I spent two years making it, and I'm pretty sure it's sea-worthy."

"Wait, two years? And you're just going to give it to me like that? Why?" Luffy asked. He looked a little disappointed, but he seemed interested why Coby was just giving it away if he worked on it for so long.

"Well, I was going to use it to escape from Alvida, but I'm just not brave enough to do it..."

"So you're a coward?"

"Guh!" Coby had been taken by surprise at the insinuation. "Um...I uh...I guess you could call me that..."

Coby shook his head. If he got too depressed, he might not be able to make friends with this strange man.

"I was just fishing two years ago and I accidentally walked onto this ship. I've tried to make myself as useful as possible to stay alive." Coby told Luffy, who was picking his nose.

"Oh!" He pulled his finger out. "So you're weak, useless, and a coward." Luffy put out a finger for each accusation.

"Shishishi! I don't like you!"

Coby laughed pitifully. He had thought he could become friends with this strange man as he actually talked to him.

After Luffy had finished laughing at Coby there was a moment of silence.

"Luffy?" Coby spoke up. "Why are you out at sea?" He hoped that he could learn more about Luffy and learn why he was in that barrel.

"I'm going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy shouted with a grin plastered on his face.

"Wh-what?! The Pirate King?! That's the man who has everything in the world! Are you telling me that you're looking for the legendary One Piece?!" Coby couldn't believe it!

This man wanted to become the Pirate King?!

"Do you want to die or something?! All the pirates in the world are looking for it!"

"Well, yeah, so am I." Luffy said, his smile gone. He was beginning to become annoyed that Coby seemed so shocked at hearing his dream.

Coby continued to claim that it was impossible for him to become the Pirate King. At this, Luffy hit Coby on the head.

"Ow! Why'd you hit me?!" Coby was clutching his head in pain as he rolled on the ground.

"Because you're irritating me." Luffy told him as began to walk away. Coby sat up as he watched the man go further into the forest.

Before he exited the area, he turned and looked Coby in the eyes.

"I know that it's dangerous, and that there will be hardships." Luffy grinned once more. "It's my dream though, so I don't mind dying for it." He continued walking.

Coby started tearing up. He could see the passion in Luffy's eyes.

He would die for his dream?

Then, if he's able to do it, what about-?

"Would I be willing to accomplish my dream?" Luffy stopped and turned around. "If I'm willing to die?" Coby asked him.

"Would I be able to become a marine?!"

Luffy grinned at him once again. "I dunno. That depends on you."

Coby began to exclaim his dream to Luffy. That he would be a marine and capture pirates like Alvida.

Luffy was starting to like this guy. He was pretty funny.

"Who are you going to arrest, Coby?!" A voice could be heard as the ground shook a little. The tremors were getting more frequent and louder.

The boat that Luffy was walking away from exploded in shards of broken wood. A big mace had struck the boat and now it was utterly destroyed. The wielder of the mace was a heavyset woman that wore something like cowboy clothes.

Coby looked shocked. He hadn't expected Alivda to find his secret hiding place.

Luffy turned to look at the wreckage.

Coby had spent two years making that boat.

She began to mutter to her crew mates. Something about Roronoa Zoro. She then asked Coby who the most beautiful woman in the world was.

"Who is this rude hag, Coby?"

Everyone there, besides Luffy, was shocked! No one had dared call Alvida a rude hag!

"Repeat after me, Luffy!" Coby went to Luffy's side. "Alvida is the-"

Memories of Alvida treating him like a slave ran through Coby's mind. The other pirates torturing and mocking him.

He had only known Luffy for about 10 minutes, but he was already the first person to have shown him kindness for the past 2 years.

"Alvida is the rudest damned bitch!"

Luffy began to laugh,"That's so funny, Coby!"

Alvida didn't think so as she lifted the great mace to smash them both into paste.

Coby screamed, though he was happier. He had finally told Alvida what he thought of her.

Luffy pushed Coby aside, his grin still on his face. Alvida's mace had smashed against Luffy's head. Coby thought that he had lost his first friend when he realized there was no blood.

"That won't work!" Luffy yelled. "Because I'm a rubberman!"

'A rubberman?' Coby didn't understand. What did he mean by that?

"What?! How are you still alive?!" Alvida was stunned. That should have killed the little runt!

Luffy stretched his arm behind him. It went past Coby and even the trees behind him. Everyone in the area was horrified. They had never seen such a thing!

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy shouted. His fist came back with frightening speed and glanced Alvida's face.

Though it was a glancing blow, it had enough power to rip her face a little. Blood spilled from her cheek and she had fallen unconscious.

Her crew screamed! Their boss had just been defeated by this freak!

"Hey!" Luffy yelled, "Go get a boat for Coby! He wants to be a marine and you're not going to stop him!"

Alvida's crew did as they were told. They knew they wouldn't be able to fight Luffy. Doing so would be suicide.

* * *

"Ah! I was surprised that the rude hag survived! Her fat must have protected her face a bit."

Coby and Luffy were now in a boat that the pirates had surrendered. It was a decent size for one or two people.

Coby had quickly learned that Luffy's attack had missed Alvida. He was surprised to find that Luffy was much stronger than he appeared.

"But I'm the one that's surprised! You ate the Gum Gum Fruit?" This was the first time Coby had seen a Devil Fruit eater.

"Yep! I did. It tasted horrible." A disgusted look crossed Luffy's face.

"I heard some things about Devil Fruits. That they grant the eater immense power at the cost of their humanity"

"Oh? Really?" Luffy looked at him. Coby could swear his teeth became sharper and his eyes had a weird quality to them. Needless to say, Coby was a bit scared of his new friend.

"So, uh, you're looking for One Piece, right? I heard that's in the Grand Line."

"Yep! I'll need a strong crew to help me out. I think I want to aim for at least 10..." Luffy said with a hand to his chin. " And I think I know where to look for my first crew member."

"Eh? Who is it?"

"How about that Roronoa Zoro guy! If he's a good guy, I'll ask him to join my crew!"

Coby almost fainted.

* * *

They had arrived at the nearest island. A marine base was stationed next to the village they had docked at.

Luffy walked away from the docks. He wore his never-ending smile.

"Coby! You're really great! We actually got to where we needed to go!"

"Luffy, that's the basics of navigation! If you're going to be a pirate you ne-"

"Let's go find some food, Coby!" Luffy said as he continued walking away.

Coby sighed. He entertained the thought that Luffy was just a nicer Alvida for a second. He still followed him into the town.

They had found a nice restaurant to eat at. Coby had some money on him and was able to pay for two normal meals. Luffy patted his stomach, wishing to eat more, but was somewhat satisfied.

"That was good! Now I wonder where we could find this Zoro guy?"

At the mention of Zoro, the diners had jumped up, fear written across their faces.

"Luffy! Be careful! You can't just go mentioning that name around here! Now, I think we should go see this Lieutenant Morgan guy. He seems to be-"

The crowd not only jumped up, but ran out of the restaurant.

Luffy laughed. "What an interesting place! I think I'll need to remember it!"

They both left the restaurant. Coby wondering why the populace was scared of Lieutenant Morgan. Luffy trying to remember the place they were just at.

"I wonder why they were scared of Lieutenant Morgan?" He didn't miss the jump the crowd around them made.

"Maybe he's a bad guy?'

"Impossible! He's a marine! He's a good guy!" Coby couldn't bear the thought of people bad mouthing the marines.

Luffy lowered his head a bit. His eyes were obstructed by his hat. "I'm serious. He could be bad."

Coby huffed, but said nothing else.

* * *

They eventually arrived at the marine base.

Luffy thought it looked ugly. This place felt a little like the Facility. He could feel fear and pain in the air.

He hopped to the top of wall, ignoring Coby's protests and spotted a a man tied to a cross in an open field.

Coby managed to jump high enough to grab the ledge. As he pulled himself up, he saw what Luffy was looking at and dropped down due to fear.

The man was wearing a plain white shirt and black pants, but he had a few articles of clothing that only one person wore in this area.

"Hey, Coby? You think that's Roronoa Zoro?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Coby, "That bandana! That cloth around his waist! That's Roronoa Zoro!" He was going to mention intimidating aura, but discovered that Luffy was scarier to him than Zoro was.

"Hmm...he looks pretty weak. Wonder why he hasn't broken those ropes yet?" Luffy was disappointed. This man was the "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro?

Before Coby could argue, Zoro had spotted Luffy.

"Hey! You! Could you come over here and untie me?" Zoro's voice was cracked. He must have been dehydrated.

"I've been tied up for 9 days and I'm exhausted." Yes, he was dehydrated.

"Hm, he's smiling." Luffy smiled back. He thought Zoro was pretty tough if he could still smile after being tied up for that long. Luffy didn't know if he could survive one week without food or water.

Zoro looked surprised that the man wasn't scared of him. A girl pulled up a ladder next to Coby, scaring the hell out of him, and she shushed him. She jumped over the wall and ran up to Zoro with a bag in her hands.

Coby demanded that Luffy go and rescue the poor girl from the demon, but Luffy just picked his nose and told him to go do it if he wanted to rescue her.

They watched as the girl pleaded with Zoro to accept the rice balls, but he refused, growing more fearsome with each attempt. Coby thought he was rather rude, as the girl wanted to show him kindness.

"Roronoa Zoro! Don't pick on little kids." A voice came from the side of the field.

Luffy and Coby watched as a blonde haired man in a suit walked towards Zoro with two marines at his side. They learned his name was Helmeppo and he was Lieutenant Morgan's son. Luffy looked rather disinterested, as he thought he looked pretty stupid. They watched the exchange between Zoro and Helmeppo. They watched as he stole a rice ball and spat it out.

He pulled a gun on the child, and to Coby's horror, shot her. Luffy had an unreadable expression on his face. He knew what people were capable of, after seeing it in Grey Terminal and in the Facility.

Helmeppo ordered the two marines to toss her over the wall, which they did with hesitation. They didn't want to carry out the order, Coby realized. They probably wanted to help the child.

Luffy and Coby ducked. They didn't want to be seen. The girl was thrown over the wall, and Luffy was able to catch her before she hit the ground. He checked her wounds. She was crying, but still alive. He told Colby to take her to the town and find help.

He looked back over the wall. Luffy tsk'ed out of frustration. Helmeppo and his guards were gone.

Zoro looked up. His face had some viciousness in it still. Luffy heard him yelling at Helmeppo, but didn't pay too much attention to it. Zoro also looked like he was...sad. Luffy guessed that he felt guilty that the kid suffered due to him.

"You're still here?" Zoro asked. His raspy voice gave it more of a sorrowful tone than intended.

"Yeah. I want you to join my pirate crew." Luffy's mouth was a thin line. He couldn't smile after seeing the girl shot.

"So, you've given up on life and decided to live as a criminal?"

"There's nothing wrong with being a pirate. It's my dream to be the Pirate King. Everyone says you're a bad guy, but I was going to see how you really are."

"A bad guy, huh?" Zoro shook his head, "I don't care what people think of me. I'll never join you. I have something I need to take care of. That bastard promised to let me go after staying alive for one month and I'm going to survive without your help and fulfill my dreams!"

"Ah, is that so?" Luffy smiled a little. He liked Zoro's spirit. "I guess that's too bad then. See you!" Luffy walked closer and scooped up the rice ball. He was eying it since the girl took it out.

He didn't want to waste good food now.

"Hey, wait a second!" Luffy saw Zoro looking at the rice ball in his hands. "Do you think you could give me that?"

"This? I was planning on eating it."

"It wasn't made for you, it was mine! Now just throw it in my mouth!"

Luffy grunted in disappointment, but he did what Zoro asked. He watched him chew it up with tears in his eyes.

Zoro swallowed the rice ball and looked down at the ground.

"Tell that little girl..."the rice balls tasted very good"...and "thank you very much"."

Luffy turned around and started walking away with a wide grin on his face. He reevaluated his opinion of Zoro.

He was pretty strong.

He came across Colby and led him to the girl's house. Coby had told him her name was Rika. The bullet didn't hit anything important so she would be okay. Luffy relayed Zoro's words and Rika was delighted to hear that Zoro thought the rice balls were good. Rika's mother had been distraught that her daughter had been shot, but she couldn't do anything about it as no one could oppose the Morgan family.

They also learned how Zoro was arrested. He had killed Helmeppo's pet wolf after it had mauled a few people. Luffy thought that was pretty stupid, as he killed and ate those kinds of things all the time.

They heard some noise outside and saw that people were bowing to the passing Helmeppo. He was talking about how he would execute Zoro in three days. He and his guards had to stop walking as Luffy got in their way.

"Didn't you say you would give him a month?" Luffy's eyes were focused on Helmeppo, who started laughing.

"Who are you? How rude. I was only joking with him! Only an idiot would belie-"

Helmeppo didn't get to finish as Luffy's fist suddenly met with his face. Luffy's fist was colored white and he looked pissed.

Helmeppo's guards were surprised, but they didn't do anything. They felt he had gotten what he had deserved.

Helmeppo collapsed to the floor. His face had a imprint of a fist on it and blood spilled from his mouth.

Coby was scared. He thought Helmeppo looked dead.

"I've decided." Luffy's voice was a bit warped. "Zoro's going to join my crew."

* * *

Luffy made his way to the marine base. Helmeppo's guards carried him away, though he didn't look too good.

The people had begged Luffy to run away. They didn't want to see this man get killed. Luffy wouldn't listen, as he wanted to make these bastards pay.

He jumped the fence and walked towards Zoro.

"My name is Luffy. I'm going to free you from these ropes, and you're going to join me."

"Huh? You again?" Zoro didn't look too pleased with Luffy's reappearance,"I told you, I wasn't going to join you. I just have to sta-"

"Helmethead lied. He's going to execute you in three days." Luffy interrupted.

Zoro paused. This was news to him.

He sighed. He didn't appreciate being lied to, but he still didn't want to be a pirate.

"Everyone already sees you as a bad guy, so it doesn't matter if you join me or not."

"That's not the point. I have my own things to do. I can't be tied down to anyone."

"I don't care! You're joining me!" Luffy pouted. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Don't just decide that on your own!" Zoro shouted. This guy was getting on his nerves!

"Anyway, I heard you use a sword. Where is it?" Luffy asked.

"I use three. They're my treasures. Blondie took them from me."

"Oh, I see. Well, I'm going to get them back for you! I won't give them back if you don't join me though!" Luffy grinned at Zoro.

He ran off towards the main base before Zoro could object.

"What the hell?! That's dirty!" Zoro couldn't take much more of this guy.

"Come back here!"

Luffy ran towards the base. He didn't have a clue where he should begin, but he was certain things would work out.

He saw something sticking up from the roof. He stretched his limb and managed to get a hold on it. He rocketed himself up, but was going to fast. Trying to stop himself, he quickly grabbed something else and pulled himself towards the base.

Something had snapped in his grip, but he didn't care.

He crashed through several floors and looked around. Nobody had seen him so he started searching for Zoro's swords. He could hear a lot of yelling, but paid no mind to it.

Eventually, Luffy came across a room that looked like it belonged to someone. In the corner lied three katanas. He hoped these were the three swords Zoro had told him about.

Looking outside, he saw that marines had surrounded Zoro and Coby was with him too! Coby had some blood on his shoulder as he bled from a wound.

The marines pointed their guns at them. Deciding that he shouldn't waste anymore time, Luffy shouldered the swords and put his hands on the window sill and prepared to launch himself.

"Gum Gum Rocket!" He flew towards the window and crashed through it. Flying towards Coby and Zoro, he positioned himself so he would cover the two with his body.

The marines had fired just as Luffy hit the ground. Luffy was already positioned to take the bullets.

The bullets pressed against his skin, but they didn't pierce through. Zoro and Coby looked on in shock. Luffy had seemingly given his life for them. Coby passed out.

Luffy kept his grin. His skin had stretched enough and reverted. The bullets flew away from Luffy and hit some of the marines that had fired them. It didn't look like it had killed anyone, so Luffy turned to look at Zoro.

"What are you?" Zoro asked. He was just as surprised as the marines who had shot Luffy.

"I'm a rubberman! Nice swords." He showed him the three katanas.

"Thanks, rubberman." Zoro didn't like saying this. It sounded too strange.

"Well, it looks like you don't have much of a choice here."

Luffy looked at the marines.

"You can be executed," Luffy turned to grin at Zoro,"Or you can work with me!"

Zoro sighed, but he smirked at Luffy. "It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice! Alright, I'll join you. Just get these ropes off of me!"

"Yay! My first crew member! You'll be my swordsman!"

"Enough! Go and kill them already!" A man with an axe for a hand and a metal jaw yelled. Luffy assumed that his was Lieutenant Morgan.

The marines began to charge at them with their swords drawn. If bullets wouldn't work, then maybe their swords would.

Luffy fiddled with the ropes. "Hm, these knots are hard to untie..."

"Would you just hurry up!"

The marines were closing in on them!

"These would be easier if I-wait a second!" Luffy stretched his finger so that it went into the knot. After a second of effort, the wooden post broke.

"Oops, I meant to break the rope."

Zoro would have face-palmed if he could. The post was easily thicker than his whole body, and the rope was very thin.

This guy was much stronger than he let on.

"Whatever! Just give me my swords!"

The marines had reached them. Luffy had put a sword in Zoro's hand and in a flash, Zoro cut himself free and had a sword in each hand and one in his mouth. He blocked the incoming blades and was able to hold the marines back.

"So cool!"

Zoro looked up, a menacing smile on his face as he stared at Luffy.

"I'll join your pirate crew." Some of the marines backed up. They couldn't believe Zoro still had enough strength to hold them back.

"But remember this!" Zoro began to shout, "My goal is to become the best swordsman in the world and I won't let anything stop me!"

"If you get in my way you'll have to pay with your life!" More marines began to withdraw.

They could feel the spirit Zoro had put behind his words. He meant what he had said.

Luffy laughed, "Good! I'd be embarrassed if you didn't aim that high! Now duck, Zoro!"

Zoro only had a second to realize that Luffy was about to attack. He did as he was told.

The marines' blades started to close in on him.

"Gum Gum Whip!"

The rubberman's leg had smashed into the marines before they could hurt Zoro. Many of them went flying, but the ones that had contact with his leg were sent to the ground. Their broken bodies writhed in agony, as the kick had enough strength to break a normal man in half.

Some of them laid still, their bodies contorted as the kick brushed them aside like flies.

"Agh! My arm!"

"This is too much...they're just too powerful!"

"We can't even take on Zoro! That other guy is a monster!"

"Quiet!" Morgan's voice rang throughout the area. "Whoever that just said that, I order you to shoot yourselves!"

The marines were scared of the two pirates, but they were more scared of Morgan. Some of them had put guns to their heads, prepared to fire. Coby chose this time to wake up.

"What the?! How could you order your men to do that?! What kind of marine are you?!" Coby shouted. He couldn't believe this. How could this guy call himself a marine lieutenant?

Luffy was looking down. He was filled with an indescribable rage. Zoro turned to Luffy and noticed his skin had turned white.

"Hey! Luffy?! Are you alright?"

Before the marines could shoot themselves, a tremendous roar had stopped them cold. In the background, Helmeppo passed out. He was planning on holding Coby hostage, but the roar had stopped him cold. Foam came from his mouth as fell to the ground.

Everyone turned towards Luffy and became unsettled. In Luffy's place stood a white skinned monster. Luffy's clothes were still on it and the straw hat was firmly placed on its head, blocking its face from view.

It looked up enough to show its teeth. They were clenched so tight it made cracking noises. Its upper face was still hidden beneath the straw hat.

"I can't stand people like you." Luffy's voice came from the creature. It was warped and sounded monstrous.

"Just because they can't beat us, you order them to die?!", Luffy's voice increased in volume as he spoke.

"How could you treat them like that?!"

"I don't need useless soldiers! I'm the one with the highest rank, and that makes me the greatest man on this island! Who are you to defi-"

Morgan was cut off as Luffy's fist slammed into his stomach. The breath was knocked out of him as he tried to understand what had just happened.

Everyone else was shocked. Nobody could see Luffy move. Zoro was beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself in to when he said he would follow him.

"I'm the marine's worst enemy!" Luffy growled. "If you're so great, how about you execute us right now?!"

Luffy used his arm to speed towards Morgan. Morgan tried to use his axe-hand to cut Luffy's arm, but felt pain where Luffy's hand was. He noticed the fingers had become claws and was currently cutting into his abdomen, blood cascading down his shirt and pants.

It was too late to dodge, so Morgan tried to use the axe-hand to block the attack. Luffy cocked back his other fist and as he got close to Morgan. He punched the hand. It shattered the hand and went straight into Morgan's face. His jaw almost flew off from the force.

Blood had spilled out of his mouth as he fell to the ground, his metal jaw hanging limply from one corner of his head.

Nobody moved. Luffy had just taken out the highest ranked marine on the island with two hits.

His skin turned back to normal, his claws became fingers, and his teeth lost their sharpness. He looked up with eyes filled with a little anger, but it had clearly diminished from what they had felt from him.

The marines didn't know what to do. They wanted to celebrate their freedom, but they were granted it by this monster. They were uncertain to what they should do until Luffy decided to walk back to Zoro.

"Alright! I'm pretty hungry! How about we get something to eat?"

Zoro looked over to the soldiers. "That depends if these men want to get in our way." He still held his weapons out.

"No, no!" They shouted. "Thank you for taking Lieutenant Morgan down!" They proceeded to explain why they were happy they had beaten Morgan, but Luffy was already starting to walk away. He stopped listening to them when they said they weren't going to fight.

Coby was surprised yet again by Luffy's strength. He was beginning to respect Luffy more after he heard that Luffy didn't like people who abandoned their comrades.

No one expected Zoro to suddenly collapse. He had just sheathed his weapons when it had happened.

"Hey! Don't die on me now! We haven't had any adventures yet!" Luffy panicked. He didn't want to lost his first crew mate before they had even done anything!

The marines moved to help him up, but Luffy was quicker. He threw Zoro over his back.

"...Food..." Zoro whispered. He didn't have much strength after the adrenaline had faded.

"Ah! Coby! Food! We need food now!"

* * *

Coby quickly led Luffy to Rika's house. She had helped Zoro once and they both hoped she would again. Luckily, they were right. Rika's mother was very grateful that they had rescued her daughter, and if meant helping a demon recover, she would assist.

Zoro proved he could eat almost as much as Luffy could.

"I'm full!" He exclaimed as he patted his stomach,"I thought I was going to die! I hadn't eaten in 9 days!"

"How did you expect to live a month if you almost died in 9 days?" Luffy commented as he shoved more food into his mouth.

"Hey, hey, hey. How come you can eat more than me, yet you're so thin?" Zoro tried to change the subject.

"Sorry for our intrusion." Coby apologized to Rika's mother. "These two seemed to have caused you some trouble."

"Even I ate a lot." he rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it!" Rika's mother enthused, "You saved our town from that horrible monster, Lieutenant Morgan!" She set another plate of food on the table.

Zoro and Coby both thought that the real monster was sitting right next to them, currently stuffing his face full of food.

They had a wonderful little meal. Luffy sat back, stomach bloated a bit. It freaked out Zoro, but Rika was amazed he could eat so much. Coby was just used to it, as he couldn't really be surprised by Luffy anymore. Coby took a sip of water.

"So, Luffy, where are we headed to next?"

"Shishishi! We're headed for the Grand Line now!"

Which he promptly spat out. He was wrong. Luffy could still surprise him.

After they had argued a bit about heading to the Grand Line so soon, Coby told Luffy that he was glad that he met him.

They were going to part ways soon, but Luffy was Coby's first friend. Luffy was glad for Coby, saying that he changed and Luffy no longer thought of him as weak.

Luffy learned that Coby had risked his life to try and save Zoro. He was stronger than Luffy had originally thought. Coby told them both that they both inspired him to get stronger and to live for his dream.

The marines confronted them before they left Rika's house. Even if they were grateful (and utterly terrified of Luffy) they still had to ask the pirates to leave. Luffy and Zoro expecting this, set off on the ship Luffy and Coby had taken from Alvida's gang.

Luffy managed to convince the marines that Coby wasn't with them. It involved him and Coby hitting each other, but eventually, the marines split up the fight and thought that Coby wasn't their ally. In reality, it was obvious Coby was friends with them, but the marines had decided that Coby seemed to truly want to join the marines.

As Luffy and Zoro sailed away, they saw the townsfolk and the marines say their goodbyes. Luffy waved back.

He hoped Coby would be happy. He had fulfilled his dream and had become a marine! Coby really wasn't weak, cowardly, or useless.

He was Luffy's friend.

* * *

**Feel free to leave a review! **


	3. The Pirate's Life

**Hello again everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all to enjoy! I apologize if there are any errors.**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

Luffy and Zoro were lost.

"What kind of pirate can't navigate his own ship?" Zoro asked as he laid down on the deck of their small boat.

He was a bit upset that none of them could find an island. They had run out of food yesterday and they were both starving.

It's been three days since they left Coby and the marine base behind. Luffy and Zoro didn't talk much to each other.

Luffy was surprisingly quiet. He was happy that he had his first crew member! Shame he wasn't a musician though.

Zoro thought Luffy was a bit strange. That weird transformation had unnerved him. He'd never seen something like it before. Luffy told him about his Devil Fruit a bit more. The Gum Gum Fruit.

Zoro asked what type of fruit it was, as he thought it was a Zoan from the transformation, but Luffy shrugged. He never found out what kind it really was.

"I've really just wandered around. I actually got sucked into a whirlpool on the first day of my adventure!" Luffy started to laugh, but groaned as his stomach grumbled.

"I'm so hungry..."

"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten all of the food, Captain?" Zoro mocked his hungry captain.

Luffy didn't understand the meaning of moderation.

Zoro sighed. He wished he had lots of alcohol at the moment.

"I didn't. You're still on board." Luffy said. He licked his lips as he did so.

"What?! You're going to eat me?!" Zoro cried. He didn't imagine this was how his journey was going to end!

"Shishishi! I'm not going to eat you! You're part of my family now! I don't eat my family!" Luffy said with a grin.

"That's real nice, but I'm not going to believe it that easily." Zoro sighed. Luffy could be too much sometimes.

Zoro didn't want to think that Luffy ate people. He said he only didn't eat family.

He wondered if the reason he didn't eat any of his family was because he would get food poisoning if he did.

They were silent for a while.

"Hey, Zoro? Why are you out at sea?"

"I was searching for a man. I couldn't find my way back home so I decided to hunt down pirates so I could support myself with the reward money."

"So you just got lost? That's pretty lame."

"Says you, Luffy."

They both laid down on the deck. Their stomachs could be heard growling.

"Hey, look. It's a bird."

"Ah, I see it."

They both stared at the bird for a while.

"I know! Let's go eat that bird!" Luffy said as he got up. He made sure his straw hat was secured to his head and then he stretched his arms out so they would grab the mast.

"Luffy? What are you doing?"

"Gum Gum Rocket!" He shot upwards towards the bird.

Zoro was impressed until he remembered that Luffy had flown towards a bird while they were in a little boat surrounded by water.

He didn't look forward to pulling him out of the ocean if this was going to happen all the time.

He watched Luffy become smaller and smaller against the sky. Sweat dropped down his face as he realized the bird was much bigger than they had thought.

The bird started flying away with Luffy. Zoro didn't have a good look to where Luffy was, but he knew the bird had him, so he started rowing as fast as he could in the direction it was flying.

* * *

Nami was running as fast as she could from the pirates that were chasing her. She had just stolen a map to the Grand Line from the Buggy Pirates, and now she had to make her get away from here. This map could lead her to much more treasure than what was in East Blue, so she couldn't just let go of it!

Of course, if she was caught, she would probably be tortured.

She grimaced as she could hear the hollering of the men chasing her.

Or worse.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred right above her. It had startled not only her, but her pursuers. Something began to fall towards her, so she jumped out of the way before it hit the ground. Nami was a bit stunned, so she had a little trouble seeing what it was.

"Oh! Now the bird's a bit cooked! I didn't even have to make a fire for it!" She heard a man's voice yell out.

Getting her vision back, she could see the remains of a bird that was burnt to a crisp. She could also see something resembling bite marks all over the bird. A man suddenly jumped from its corpse. He was kinda tall and wore a red vest with denim shorts.

A straw hat adorned his head.

Thinking up a scheme, she got up and ran towards the man. "Boss! So glad to see you! These men were chasing me, so could you take care of them? Please and thank you!" She made sure the pirates heard her before she ran off.

"Huh? What was that all about?" Luffy shrugged. "Hey! Do you know where I can get some more food?" He asked the three pirates.

The bird didn't look so tasty anymore as parts of it turned into ash.

"Should we go after the girl?" The pirates conversed amongst themselves, ignoring Luffy's question.

"Naw, it doesn't matter. We have her boss right here." The pirates surrounded Luffy.

One of them smacked him in the head, knocking his hat off.

The pirate who did that found that a white colored fist had dug into his head. He was launched into a nearby building, head split open and bleeding.

The two others were shocked. Luffy caught his hat as he looked at them.

"Don't touch my hat." He glared at them, his eyes promising untold amounts of pain upon them.

They stumbled, but caught themselves. It was fight and subdue this weird guy or go back to Buggy and die.

They charged towards Luffy with their weapons aimed to skewer him.

* * *

As Luffy cleaned his hands of blood after dealing with the three weaklings, he heard a woman speak to him.

"You're really strong! You managed to take those guys out with just your fists!"

Luffy turned and saw a orange haired girl wearing a striped shirt with a yellow skirt sitting on an overhang of a building.

"Thanks. Wait! Who are you?" Luffy looked at his hat. He wanted to make sure it wasn't damaged.

"I'm a thief that only steals from pirates! My name is Nami, want to be partners?" This guy was strong. If she managed to get him on her side, she might not have much trouble as she thought she would.

"Partners? No way, I'm good." Luffy said as he began to walk away.

Nami followed him for quite some time. He was looking for the docks, but he couldn't seem to find it. She asked if she could talk to him inside a building, as it was safer for her to be hidden instead of walking around the streets, and Luffy had no objections.

Maybe if he talked to her, she would help him find Zoro?

They talked a bit. Luffy told her that he was separated from his crew of one and she tried telling him about Buggy the Clown, a pirate in the area.

It seemed Luffy really didn't care who he was. Luffy just wanted to find Zoro.

She told him her goal of getting one-hundred million belli so she could buy a certain village. Nami also told him of her plan to go to the Grand Line to steal from pirates who had more treasure than pirates in East Blue, and she extended her offer of partnership once more.

She revealed that she had excellent navigational skills, which she was willing to use for him if they partnered up.

When Luffy told her that she could join his pirate crew, she quickly changed her mind. She told him the thing she hated most were pirates, but she thought up a quick plan.

Smirking devilishly, she told him that she would join if he would do one thing for her.

"What's the rope for?"

"It's just a rope. You got problems with ropes?" Nami replied innocently.

"Nope." They continued walking. Nami was leading Luffy to Buggy.

They were getting closer to Buggy's encampment. Nami moved onto phase two of her plan.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Nami didn't listen as she tied him up. This stupid pirate would help convince Buggy that she was on his side.

* * *

Zoro looked around. This village was a ghost town.

"What happened to all the people?" He asked his stowaways.

"The truth is, our main pirate fleet is here right now raiding this village." One of them said, rubbing his head. He didn't want to go and tell Buggy that they had come back with no treasure.

They would certainly suffer a painful death if they did that.

'I'm too kind sometimes.' Zoro thought as he looked at the three pirates he had picked up.

They were the reason why Zoro was so late in arriving in the village. They had tried to rob them after he had saved them from drowning, so Zoro had to beat some sense into them. He decided to allow them to stay on and lead him to the nearest land.

Also he was pretty tired of rowing and forced them to do it.

"Well, you better lead me to this Buggy guy then. I hope he has information on where Luffy is." Zoro said as he walked by the pirates.

This "Buggy"didn't sound like good news, but any news was good at this point.

* * *

Luffy was bored. He just watched as the Buggy pirates celebrated their getting the map to the Grand Line back and their new crew member.

Nami looked like she was forcing herself to have fun, Luffy thought as he saw her drink more pirates under the table. That must have been the 20th pirate to be beaten by her.

Nami walked over to him.

"How's it going, boss?" She smiled at him. She knelt down to look at him face to face. His cage was way too small for him.

"Hey, if you're not going to let me out, could you at least get me some food? I'm starving." Luffy's stomach grumbled for emphasis.

After getting him some food, Luffy reevaluated his opinion of her.

"I guess you're not so bad after all." he told her as his mouth was stuffed with some food.

"You're taking this way too well for someone who's been captured." She muttered as a sweat drop rolled down her cheek. He didn't seem to concerned about his situation.

"Yeah, I'm not in danger at the moment, so I'll just wait for Zoro to rescue me." He finished by gulping his food down.

"Listen, I'm going to free you after the pirates look away, okay? I don't have anything against you, really. You should have chosen to be something else." Nami looked at him.

He was just sitting there, with a content smile on his face. He was really too relaxed, she noted.

"Gyahahaha! You've really got a good follower there, thief boss!" Luffy looked at the man called "Buggy".

He had some sort of clown theme. He wore makeup and bright clothing. The biggest feature Buggy had was his huge, ball shaped, bright red nose.

Buggy had come up to the cage, startling Nami. Luffy just sat there with a blank look on his face.

"She's not my follower." He said. This guy looked really stupid.

Luffy tuned Buggy out. He really liked hearing himself talk.

"Your fate has been decided for you!" Luffy heard Buggy in the background.

"Oh? So you're letting me go?" Buggy looked at Luffy, who had said that with a smile on his face.

"Yeah I'm lettin- you think I'm stupid?!" Buggy yelled. He couldn't believe the audacity of this guy.

"Yes."

Buggy looked furious.

"Ready the Buggy Ball!" He commanded. This guy was pissing him off! His crew rushed to get a cannon ready.

They demonstrated its power as it fired through several buildings before exploding.

Buggy bragged about the power of his cannon as his men moved the cannon to point towards Luffy.

"Now, Nami! Prove your loyalty to me by destroying your former boss!"

"I-I don't think that's necessary Captain Buggy! Let's just drink some more and continue the party!" She was sweating. The situation was going from bad to worse.

Buggy didn't say anything. He handed Nami a matchbook and looked down at her.

"Kill him." he commanded. His crew began to cheer for her. They wanted her to shoot Luffy and make him explode!

Nami struggled inside herself. This was worse than worse. She couldn't think of a way to get out of this terrible predicament.

"Hey, you're shaking." Luffy pointed out. He smiled at her. "You know, if you're not brave enough, you shouldn't have joined a pirate group."

"Killing people doesn't make you brave. Is that how pirates view bravery?" She couldn't stop herself from trembling. She didn't expect to have to kill someone.

"No." Luffy frowned for a second.

The Buggy pirates were getting impatient. They wanted her to blow this guy to smithereens.

Luffy grinned widely.

"Being brave is being able to risk your own life."

Nami stopped trembling. She couldn't hear the Buggy Pirates anymore. Being brave meant being able to put your own life on the line?

Looks like this man was different from the rest of the pirates she knew.

One of the Buggy Pirates had grabbed the matchbook from her hands. He began to light the fuse when she grabbed the folded up staff she kept under her skirt and smacked him with it. She unfolded it and faced the Buggy Pirates.

She didn't want Luffy to die. Not when it would mean sinking down to the level of these pirates.

Everyone there was surprised, including Luffy. He didn't expect her to stop the man from lighting the fuse.

The Buggy Pirates were going crazy at this betrayal.

"Hey? Are you rescuing me now?" Luffy asked.

"Just shut up! I acted without thinking! I don't want to be like you pirates! I'm not a murderer!" Nami was visibly upset. She was now exposed to all these vicious pirates and they would tear her apart.

"Pirates stole the life of someone I loved. That's why I hate pirates!"

"Ah. So that's why."

Nami faced the Buggy Pirates. Buggy had already ordered his men to kill them both.

They were already rushing towards her with the intentions to disable or kill. Either way, it would not end well for her.

She swung her staff, but was unable to hit any of them. They kept jumping around and they were much more experienced in fighting. She realized she wouldn't be able to fight them all off.

Taking a few steps back, she was prepared to start running, she had already gotten the key for Luffy's cage. She wasn't sure if she could free him in time, so that was a last resort.

Just as she was about to be overwhelmed by the pirates, they were abruptly stopped by a man standing between them.

"Just how many of you are going to attack one girl?" The man had knocked them all back with two swings of his sheaths. They flew backwards and slid on the ground.

"Zoro! It's good to see that you didn't get lost!"

"You're the one that got caught by that bird, Luffy!" Zoro yelled, "Don't act like I was the one getting lost!"

They both ignored Nami and Buggy's crew's reactions. Zoro was a feared name in East Blue.

"Hm! You're definitely Zoro! Have you come for my head?" Buggy asked as he stood near Zoro.

"I stopped doing that, so I'm not a pirate hunter anymore." Zoro said as he got closer to Luffy, "I have no interest in hunting you."

"But I have an interest in hunting you!" Buggy exclaimed he took out some knives. He held one between each finger. "If I kill you, my name will grow even more famous!"

Zoro sighed. "If you want to fight me, you better be prepared to die." He unsheathed his swords.

"Gyahaha! That's good! You better bring your bloodlust if you want to stand a chance against me!" Buggy yelled as he charged Zoro.

In a flash of steel, Zoro cleaved Buggy into pieces. Zoro sheathed his swords.

Nami looked frightened as Luffy looked impressed. The Buggy crew started laughing as they witnessed their captain fell to chunks on the ground.

"That was so cool, Zoro!" Luffy was excited. He already had such a cool and powerful guy as a crew mate!

"It was nothing, Luffy. I can't cut these bars, so do you have a way out?" Zoro walked over to Luffy's cage. He narrowed his eyes.

He couldn't cut steel. Not yet.

"Shishishi! Don't worry about that! I just wanted to see something interesting, is all." Luffy replied. He then chomped on the gates which dented the bars a bit.

This freaked Zoro and Nami out, but not as much as the continued laughter of the Buggy crew.

"Would you guys just sh-Gah!" Zoro started, but he stopped due to the dagger now sticking through his abdomen.

"Zoro!" Luffy cried out. He had only just started chomping on the bars. He wouldn't be able to get out in time.

"Gyahahaha! Fool! I ate the Bara Bara Fruit! You were tricked!" Buggy laughed as his parts floated through the air.

"Devil Fruits?! I thought those were just a myth?!" Nami exclaimed. This day was just getting worse...

"Wow! That guy really is a monster!" Luffy said, forgetting for a moment that he was also an ability user.

He looked at Zoro and frowned. He didn't like his family getting hurt. The wound wasn't that bad even though it looked fatal.

"Now I'm going to finish you off flashily, Roronoa Zoro! Prepare to make me famous!" The dagger was held above Zoro.

Zoro couldn't move. He was frozen from the sudden pain and shock he was going through.

He grimaced as he looked at Luffy. Zoro was a bit sad that for all his boasting about being great, he would meet his end here by a freak dressed like a clown.

"What the hell was that for, Big Nose?!"

The Buggy crew was shocked! They knew that calling him anything like that would guarantee death!

Nami began to think that Luffy really wanted to die. She had trailed Buggy for some time, and remembered what he did to people who called him that. It was bad, but she knew a pirate far more terrifying than Buggy.

Buggy looked furious. Nobody called him Big Nose and got away with it. He sent the dagger to Luffy's face, forgetting about Zoro.

The dagger seemed to land true. Zoro and Nami were scared that Luffy's head was split open by the dagger. They couldn't see his face as his hat got in the way.

"You better prepare yourself, Buggy!" Luffy's voice was heard from the cage. He looked up.

Luffy had caught the dagger in his mouth. "I'm going to be the one to take you out!" He chomped down, breaking the dagger into pieces.

Buggy was just as shocked as everyone else in the plaza, but he recovered.

"Gyahaha! You? Take me down? Absurd!" Buggy laughed along with his crew, "You three are the ones that are going to die!"

"Zoro!" Luffy shouted. Zoro looked at him, blood dripping from his mouth and wound. "Time to go!"

Zoro didn't understand at first, but he widened his eyes as he realized what Luffy meant.

"Alright, Captain!" He ran over to the cannon that held the Buggy Ball that was to be fired at Luffy.

A match was currently by the rope where the fuse used to be. It had been lit, which nobody had noticed until now. The fuse was currently half-way to igniting the cannon. Zoro got under the cannon and began to push.

"What the?! Don't do that!" The Buggy Pirates shouted as they started to run.

It was too late. Despite his injury, Zoro still had enough strength to reverse the cannon's facing. The cannon was ready to fire.

Almost as soon as the cannon's barrel had positioned itself so that it faced the Buggy Pirates, it roared.

* * *

Smoke covered the area. Nami and Zoro ran towards the cage that contained Luffy.

"Who's this?" asked Zoro as he eyed Nami. He had only saved her because he felt that she was outmatched by the pirates.

"This kid is our new navigator!" Luffy said with a smile. Nami became visibly upset at his words.

"You're still on about that?! If you've got time to say stupid things, how about you continue munching on that cage?!" She had been through a lot today.

Nothing had prepared her for this.

"Wait, Luffy. Just stay in the cage." Zoro said as he began to pick it up, "It'll take too long if you're going to eat it, so we'll have to get away first."

"Ah, I see. Well, let's go!" Zoro began lifting with extreme effort. It felt as if his insides wanted to come out. That Buggy might have been weak in fighting ability, but he had enough strength to do this much damage.

"Wait! You'll hurt yourself more if you keep doing that!" Nami tried to stop Zoro, but he lifted the cage onto his shoulders.

"Don't you try to stop me!" He said. Blood gushed from his wound. "I'll do things my way if I want to!"

The three got away to safety. Zoro was still adamant about carrying the cage, even if Nami had the key. She wasn't sure if she should could trust the Pirate Hunter after she had captured his captain.

* * *

They found themselves in front of a pet store. A dog was sitting outside.

As soon as he saw it, Luffy began reaching for it. He was still really hungry! He needed to eat!

Zoro dropped the cage, a little away from the dog. He didn't know who owned it, but he didn't want to be responsible for its death.

Nami decided to trust Luffy and Zoro by giving them the key. Luffy and Zoro began to brighten up. She threw the key to the ground next to Luffy's cage.

Before any of them could react, the dog ate the key. It was annoyed that these humans had intruded on its land.

Zoro grabbed the dog. The thing had just eaten the key!

Nami was stunned. She had made a mistake.

Luffy started yelling and stretching his arms at Zoro to grab the dog. He didn't care about the key anymore, he just wanted some food! Getting the key would be a small bonus.

Someone had shown up, demanding them to stop. He told them that he would help them out as long as they left the dog alone.

Luffy agreed, only if he got him some food.

Zoro asked for someplace to sleep the wound off. As long as he got some sleep, he would be fine.

The man turned out to be the town's mayor. He was on his way to feed the dog when he had found them attacking it.

The major let him sleep in his house. While Zoro was sleeping, he told Luffy and Nami about the dog and the store it was guarding. The dog's name was Shushu. The pet store it was guarding was his treasure and he had fought pirates from pillaging it.

Luffy appeared to have no interest in it as he ate the food the mayor gave him, but he took an interest in the dog. He listened to the story and grinned. He liked Shushu's spirit and understood why he didn't like them being near the store.

They were interrupted from their conversation by a loud roar. Nami and the major ditched Luffy, seeing as how they couldn't do anything for him, and hid.

"Hey, you better give me that key back, you little thing." Luffy said while looking at Shushu. "I might be able to eat my way out of this cage, but I don't have enough time to do that now."

Shushu ignored him as a lion with a weirdo approached.

"Oh? Did your friends leave you behind?" The man asked Luffy.

Luffy turned and saw a big lion the weirdo sitting atop it.

Luffy assumed the man was talking to him, as his mouth was moving. He decided to pay attention.

"...Buggy is really mad with you. You have committed a serious crime against us."

"The hell are you supposed to be? What's with the stupid fur clothing?" Luffy couldn't resist asking.

"What the? How rude! This isn't fur clothing, this is my hair!" the man said as he pointed to his head. He had weird ears at the top.

"Ew, that just makes it even stupider." Luffy was disgusted. The guy really needed a haircut. He didn't want to know what else he didn't trim.

The man continued to talk to him, but Luffy didn't care all that much.

"I can tame any beast! Witness my greatness! You, there! Dog! Shake my ha-eugh!" The man's hand was bitten by Shushu.

"You're just some common thief." The man returned to his place on top of the lion, continuing to insult Luffy.

"What? I thought you said you could tame any beast? How lame.." Luffy had to admit that was a cool skill.

Looks like this guy didn't have it though.

"Tell me where Roronoa Zoro is. I have no reason not to kill you." The man tried his best to look intimidating. Sad to say, it was pathetic.

Luffy returned the look with one of his own. This guy was pissing him off. "I have no reason to tell you where Zoro is either."

The man and the lion backed up a bit. Luffy's teeth became like thick white knives and his eyes glowed red. The air felt thick, as if an oppressing force was crushing the two.

"R-R-Richie! Destroy this miscreant!"

The lion, known as Richie, hesitantly obeyed. The guy in the cage had the presence of a predator.

If he was freed, then they would all be devoured. But the man that gave him food asked for it, and Richie decided that he was a stronger beast than the one that was trapped.

The lion's paw went crashing down into the cage, rending the steel, and Richie tried to eat the man as soon as he could.

If he didn't try, he thought he might be killed instantly.

"Shishishi! Thanks for that!" Luffy smiled as he broke the ropes that bound him effortlessly. "It's pretty hard to break things when you're in something that small while wrapped up!"

He had dodged the huge lion's gaping maw as it tried to eat him.

The lion had gone too fast. It couldn't stop its rush towards the pet store and it crashed into it. Shushu's eyes widened as he watched his precious pet store crash to the ground.

Luffy landed after his dodge. He watched as Shushu whimpered and his smile disappeared. He had unwittingly helped in destroying Shushu's treasure.

Richie and the furry man came out of the pet store. Richie had a box of pet treats in his jaws. He thought he was pretty lucky to have landed somewhere nice.

Shushu couldn't take it anymore. He rushed the much bigger animal and ripped a bit some flesh off from Richie with his teeth.

Richie cried out in pain. He hadn't expected a surprise attack. He looked down and noticed the dog.

The man on his back that fed him food ordered him to attack it, but he didn't need to bother.

Richie swiped the dog as hard as he could. He watched its body fly towards another building and crash into it limply. It seemed like it wouldn't bother him anymore.

Hands had come out of no where and grabbed onto the sides of Richie's head, and before he knew it, he was flying through the air while being turned like a top.

"Gum Gum...!"

His head landed into the concrete, going through it several feet before stopping. Richie was lucky, as that would have killed normal animals, but Richie had fought many different creatures before and had come out on top.

Years of preying on different beasts had toughened Richie up. He was the strongest where he had come from!

"..Hammer!"

None of that mattered though. Richie found that he had just been living in a small world.

A much larger animal had showed Richie that he was actually a nothing, Richie bleakly thought this as he lost consciousness.

"Richie!" The man screamed, "You bastard! What the hell are you?!" the man had been sent flying from Richie as soon as he started getting twisted through the air.

"I ate the Gum Gum Fruit. I'm a rubberman." Luffy had his head turned away. He watched as Shushu tried to pick himself up, but it seemed that his body was too broken to stand. He let out a cry as a failed attempt had made him fall to the ground.

Shushu looked bad.

"A-A Devil Fruit eater?! Like Captain Buggy?! I'll give you anything you want!" The man begged.

"I'm so sorry!" Tears spilled forth from the man's eyes.

"I don't want your "apologies"." Luffy said as he walked towards the man. His face still hidden by his hat as he continued to watch Shushu. The dog's breath was getting shallower, its attempts at standing grew weaker.

The lion hadn't held back.

"It won't give Shushu back his treasure." Luffy kept walking towards him. He was getting closer and closer.

The man felt something off, but he stood there and pleaded some more. His words couldn't reach Luffy.

"I came over here..." Luffy suddenly looked towards the man. His face was no longer the one with the scar underneath his left eye. It was a rubbery white. He no longer had a nose. His mouth was in the form of a sneer with razor sharp teeth bared towards him.

"To get payback for Shushu!"

* * *

Mohji never expected his day to be like this. He thought it would just be a normal day of pillaging, raping, and plundering. This was supposed to be an easy job. Just murder some kids and call it a day.

Luffy didn't have any eyes at first. Mohji soon saw that he had slits where his eyes should be and couldn't help but stare at them.

The slits suddenly opened up and Mohji peered into Luffy's eyes.

The amount of hatred and rage he saw in them was too much for Mohji. He couldn't run, he couldn't even speak. He could barely breathe, although he was beginning to lose that ability. Foam came forth from his mouth.

"Ah...ah...ah..." Mohji could barely get out. He felt overwhelmed. He was facing a being that was much greater in strength than he was, and he had angered it. He had thought something else was in front of him. Not the lanky kid turned monster, but something truly terrifying. A real devil.

Mohji didn't think he would survive this encounter.

A fist smashed into Mohji's face.

His captain! He had to tell his captain to run away! To just forget about this town!

He was slowly lifted off the ground. The fist wasn't aimed to force him backwards.

As Mohji felt this terrible pain, he felt a bit of regret. He regretted that he had not been able to kill anyone.

It was aimed to send him into the ground.

As his vision faded, Mohji hoped his captain would get away before this monster got to him.

He hit the ground with the fist still pushing against his face. The color of the hand was white, but he couldn't notice the small black marks on the knuckles.

The ground split apart. The area where his head hit the cement had formed a little crater. The fist continued to push his head into the ground just a bit before retracting.

Luffy didn't look back at what he had done. He felt no regret. He started to walk to where Shushu laid.

Remembering something, he pulled the lion's body out of the cement. He retrieved a small box of treats that had been ripped a bit, but had some of its contents inside it.

Dropping the lion, he walked over to Shushu.

* * *

"Shushu!" The mayor cried.

Nami and the mayor arrived to see Luffy sit next to Shushu. They wanted to come a little earlier, but they had felt this weird aura. If they were to any closer, they would be overwhelmed by this feeling of oppression.

It was as if they were going to be crushed under something much more powerful than they were.

"I'm sorry about your store, but I managed to take this back from them." He set a box of treats next to Shushu. The dog pitifully looked up at Luffy.

Nami looked at the destruction in the area. She took in the destroyed store, and Shushu lying next to a wall stained with his blood. She felt for the dog, as he had his home destroyed by pirates, but she also noticed the large lion and the furry man embedded in the concrete. The lion laid on the ground while the man looked like his head lost a fight with a cannonball.

His face was little more than a red smear on the ground.

It made her a bit sick.

Shushu looked up at Luffy. He had seen and felt what he had done, but he wasn't affected by the aura. It actually felt comforting, as if he had done those things to defend him. He was touched. This human didn't know him, but had fought for him.

The mayor ran over to Shushu, consumed by grief. He couldn't protect him! His friend...!

Shushu licked Luffy's hand. He couldn't do much else, and he felt his life fading. He barked weakly.

The mayor cried as he held Shushu. The dog was motionless.

Luffy's face had taken an expressionless look. He had seen the dog take on the much larger lion. Without regard for his own life, Shushu fought to protect his treasure.

He set off. He couldn't stay here. The longer he was here, the longer Buggy went unpunished for his crimes.

A massive explosion suddenly tore apart the buildings in front of them.

"The village!" the mayor couldn't believe it. His home, his treasure...it was being destroyed before his eyes. They had started with nothing and had managed to build their homes, and it was just being taken apart before him!

"Ah! Zoro was sleeping in there!" Luffy yelled. He was scared that his swordsman had been killed in the blast. Zoro was part of his precious family!

Nami was tired of this. These people now lost their homes due to pirates, and Shushu's death hurt her even more.

Shushu had lost everything, was unable to protect his home, and he died in his attempt to fight back.

Zoro turned out to be alright. He mentioned something about rude awakenings, which Nami thought was ridiculous.

Who shrugs off an explosion like it was nothing?

"That's enough!"

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami turned to look at the mayor. He had his head in his hands. His voice sounded strained and he had tears running down his face.

"I can't just stand by and do nothing! He's taking away everything we worked so hard to get in a matter of minutes! He's going to pay for his crimes!"

"Wait! Don't just go off and get yourself killed! There's no point in that!" Nami pleaded with the man. A village could be rebuilt as long as the villagers themselves survived.

She cringed. This man was having his home taken away by pirates and his friend had just been killed. It reminded her a little of her own situation.

"I know that I might die!" He shouted. "But I can't just let this go by and do nothing! I'll fight for my home!" He started running away, but couldn't as he was suddenly hit hard in the head, forcing him lose consciousness.

"Sorry, old man, but I can't let you do that." Luffy stepped away from the mayor. He had seen enough of these people losing their lives. This man gave him food, and Luffy liked his spirit.

He didn't want him ending up like Shushu.

"Hey?! What was that for?!" Nami screamed. She didn't expect this. "Is that how you pirates show gratitude?!"

She was going to go on, but Luffy stopped her. "I don't want this guy to die. I like him. He isn't strong enough to take on Big Nose though." He started walking towards Buggy's hideout. "So I'm going to help him out."

Nami was confused. This guy was impatient, brainless, and rude, but she couldn't say anything. This guy was going to fight the pirates for the mayor?

Maybe he was a bit more noble than he let on.

* * *

"Hey you! Big Ugly Fat Nose!"

Nami and Zoro looked at Luffy with fear. They currently found themselves with a cannon aimed at them armed with a Buggy Ball. Buggy had learned of his subordinate's defeat and was ready for them. Luffy had said nothing as Buggy ranted about how stupid they were to confront his superiority.

Buggy didn't take kindly to Luffy's insult.

"Fire the Buggy Ball!" Buggy raged. He wanted these people killed for their transgressions.

"You idiot!" Nami was crying. She didn't expect to die so soon.

"Cmon, Luffy! Let's run!" Zoro was good, but not good enough to take on a cannon.

"You think I would run from just a cannonball?" Luffy grinned. It wasn't normal, as his teeth were a bit sharpened.

The cannon fired, sending the Buggy Ball towards them.

"Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy suddenly inflated and bounced it back.

Nami and the Buggy Pirates were scared. They hadn't expected that.

"Could have said something sooner." Zoro lowered his bandana a bit more with his hand as he tried to hide his surprised expression.

The Buggy Ball unleashed it's destructive potential upon the Buggy Pirates. Nothing remained of their precious encampment.

"Alright! That must have killed more than a few of them!" Luffy shouted. He wanted them to hurt.

"What the hell are you?!" Nami was getting tired of all the surprises.

"So much for their greatness..." Zoro muttered. He hoped it had taken out Buggy. He was tired of listening to his voice.

Much to their disappointment, more so for Zoro, Buggy had survived the blast. He and his swordsman, a man named Cabaji, used some of their crew mates as shields.

Luffy didn't show it, but this just added fuel to his fire. He promised to Shushu to make sure Buggy would suffer.

Before Luffy could make his way to Buggy, the swordsman Cabaji, rushed towards him. Zoro had decided to fight this guy, so Luffy decided to watch.

Cabaji tried to ignite Zoro with some fire trick, but Zoro was tired of surprises. He managed to cut Cabaji as he rolled towards him. Cabaji fell into a heap as he was defeated.

"Woah, that was pretty lame." Luffy pouted. He wanted to see more of Zoro's ability. He noticed Buggy was up to something.

"He was weak." Zoro told him, "And he wasn't a true swordsman. There's no way he could stand up to me."

Buggy took this moment to send a dagger towards Zoro as he turned away. He felt pain as Luffy ran past Zoro and stomped his hand.

"Hey, Buggy! You're fight is with me! Zoro! How's your wound?" Luffy had his eyes trained on Buggy. He wouldn't let him out of his sight now.

"I'm fine, Luffy! I just need to nap a little. Just make sure to take care of this clown." Zoro said as he sheathed his swords and took his bandana off. He looked at the remnants of the Buggy Pirates. They were too scared to confront him now after he took down one of their supposed strongest members. He felt tired. He walked over to a building and sat down. He didn't have a good feeling about this, but he wanted to see his captain's power.

Buggy was outraged. His men had failed him too much today.

"Curse you, Straw hat! Don't think I'll let some thieves beat me!"

"We're not thieves, we're pirates." Luffy said as he took his foot off Buggy's hand. He watched as it floated back to Buggy. "Now hand over that map to the Grand Line. That's where we're going next."

"What? What would some no name pirates like you do with that map?!" How dare this guy demand something from him!

"It would be pointless to tell you." Luffy replied.

"Now enough talk. You owe me something."

Buggy growled. He wouldn't let this guy have his map! It was his ticket to untold riches!

"Since you've got that weird body, let's see you dodge this! Bara Bara Windmill!" He sent his lower body flying towards Luffy. Knives that were hidden in shoes popped and his legs rotated in a circular fashion.

Luffy paid no mind to the flying cutlery as he walked towards Buggy. His skin was already white and his face was that of a demon. The legs continued their path towards him.

"Gyahahaha! Be cut to ribbons, Straw Hat!"

"Gum Gum..." He dashed forwards, jumping over the legs. His arm was left hanging in the air as the legs uselessly flew underneath it. Before Buggy knew it, Luffy was already closing in.

Buggy didn't expect Luffy to actually jump towards him. He floated backwards.

"Now that you're in the air, try to dodge this! Bara Bara C-"

Before he could announce his attack he looked at Luffy's face. A demonic set of teeth stared back at him as he felt frozen. He couldn't even recall his legs back to him.

"...Bullet!" Luffy's hand rocketed towards Buggy's midsection. Buggy could do nothing but watch as a white fist impacted with his stomach.

The force had stunned him. He felt horrible from just getting hit by Luffy, but couldn't just let him get away. He felt his strength returning to him as the cold feeling was replaced by pain.

"Bara Bara Cannon!" His hand shot towards Luffy's head. It had daggers held between every finger but his thumb and index.

Luffy tried moving his head to the side, but was a bit late, as he was too close to Buggy's hand. The knives scraped against the rim of his hat and had cut Luffy's cheek.

"You fool! You'll pay with your life for fighting me!" Buggy didn't notice that slits had appeared on Luffy's face.

Letting loose a beastly growl, Luffy's hand rammed into Buggy's face and sent him flying backwards towards the remains of his base. Buggy's legs dragged across the ground as they returned to their owner.

"Don't touch my hat!" A warped roar came from Luffy. Many of the remaining Buggy Pirates passed out. This guy was way too scary! Much scarier than Captain Buggy!

Zoro felt an powerful pressure, but it didn't seem to crush him. If anything, it wrapped around him.

It felt fearsome, but he knew that he wasn't the one it was directed towards.

'Of all the people I had to follow.' thought Zoro, 'It had to be the most freakish man I've ever met!'.

At least Luffy was strong. Compared to Buggy, he was levels ahead of him.

Zoro grinned. He didn't mind that his captain was a monster. Luffy had showed that he was worthy of the title of captain.

Buggy was injured. This was the first time in a long while that someone had done this to him. He pushed himself up and looked at Straw Hat. He seemed to be quivering in rage, but other than that, he didn't move.

He felt an aura he hadn't felt in a long time, but he had enough experience to resist it. Passing out here in fear wouldn't do well, he thought. Death would await him if he were to nod off.

Noticing movement behind Luffy, he sneered. He saw that pesky orange haired girl coming out of his storeroom. That thief! She had used the fight as a distraction to steal his precious treasure! He wouldn't let her go, not without punishment!

* * *

Luffy paused. He couldn't think straight. The world just seemed to irritate him. He wanted to destroy everything!

He had to calm down. Ace had told him that he got a bit uncontrollable when he got too mad. There were times that he had blacked out and woke up to the sight of his broken surroundings.

Destroying the town wasn't a good idea. This was that old guy's treasure.

Buggy's upper body launched from the wreckage. He had a weird look in his eyes. His face looked a bit weird too, Luffy thought. He could swear that Buggy's face paint used to be white, but now it was crimson colored like blood.

He flew towards Luffy. Buggy's hands came from his sides and flew forwards. Luffy dashed ahead, the knives missing him and moved towards Buggy with two fists clenched.

Buggy split in half and avoided the blows, which stretched further and headed towards his destroyed hideout. The hideout didn't matter anymore. Buggy could only think of cutting that pesky thief to ribbons.

* * *

Nami had looked towards the battlefield to check on the progress. She tried to tell Luffy of her plan, but he had ran ahead and joined the fighting.

This was too easy, she thought as she hefted a bag of treasure into her hands.

She felt kind of bad about taking off, but she couldn't stay around as she stole Buggy's treasure. Luffy and Zoro would understand.

Her eyes widened in fear as she saw this bloody clown fly towards her. She couldn't move fast enough to avoid it. It got closer and closer until she could see Buggy's sneer of hatred adorning his face.

It just got weirder that his face then took a pained look and he started to scream. The bloody look disappeared as his body slowly fell to the ground.

As his body removed itself from her field of vision she could see Luffy's arms stuck in the former base of Buggy the Clown.

He retracted his arms and in his clawed hands was Buggy's lower body. The claws were currently in places that would be absolutely inhumane to anyone that was not Buggy the Clown.

Buggy lamely tried to make his way towards Nami, but the pain was just too great. He couldn't even move anymore.

Wasn't the Bara Bara Fruit supposed to make his body immune to sharp objects? His whole world was blocked by pain. It almost didn't seem worth it to try to take back his treasure.

"Your opponent is still me!" Luffy shouted towards Buggy. Nami took a look at Buggy's face and was sure he didn't hear Luffy.

Buggy's body slowly floated together, his lower body moving to where his upper body was. Luffy was tired of waiting. He needed to hurt Buggy.

"It's time, Buggy." Buggy couldn't even look up at Luffy. He was still in too much pain.

That all changed when a foot slammed into his injuries. What he thought was painful before was too much now. He blacked out. Death would be better than fighting this monster.

"Tsk, passed out already? I haven't done anything yet." Luffy muttered, his body already back to normal. He felt satisfied when he heard Buggy scream in agony and it calmed him down quite a bit.

Nami sweat dropped. She had heard the roar and thought that she would witness a bloody massacre. She didn't expect to see Luffy manhandling Buggy the Clown as if he was a ragdoll.

"I'm tired of looking at your face." She saw that Luffy had positioned Buggy in a kneeling pose. He looked like he was being executed.

"Gum Gum...!" Both of Luffy's arms shot out behind him. He was preparing for the final blow.

"...Bazooka!" They retracted with great speed and Luffy's hands slammed into Buggy's face.

It was almost obscene. Buggy's face had caved in and he was sent flying into the distance.

Even if he was a pirate, Nami didn't like the idea of Luffy killing someone like that in such a manner.

Zoro sat nearby, dumbstruck by what he had seen.

Devil Fruit eaters were really scary, he summarized to himself.

* * *

"I'm sorry! I owe you all so much!"

Luffy, Nami and Zoro just smiled. The old mayor had come to say goodbye to them.

They had just left the village on their boats. Nami had stolen from one from some of Buggy's crew.

The boat Luffy and Zoro had was still there, to their amazement. The pirates Nami had stolen the boat from had confronted them.

They mocked Nami about her carelessness and that she would pay for it in various ways.

One look from Zoro had sent them in a flailing towards the open ocean in an attempt to get as far as they could from him.

The villagers seemed to be looking for some leftover pirates after they had discovered the mayor's body next to the petstore. They were also making a grave for Shushu, so the three had managed to get by them.

"Thank you for saving the village! Thank you for fighting for Shushu! Th-" The mayor wiped his face with a hand. "Thank you all so much!" The mayor went on. He cried throughout his whole thanks as they slowly drifted away.

Luffy smiled. He really liked that old guy. He hoped that the money he left for him would help rebuild his town.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think! **


	4. The Brave Coward

**Hello again everyone! New ideas are starting to take place, so I hope you all don't mind the new developments! **

**I, once again, apologize if I missed any errors and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

** Please, don't mind letting me know what you think! I like the fact that some people read this!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

Despite Luffy's reckless nature, he had learned from Ace on how to repair his hat.

Nami had offered to do it. She didn't expect Luffy to have those kind of skills, but Luffy declined.

Nami hadn't joined his crew, so she wasn't allowed to touch his hat.

It had been a few days since they had left Orange Town. Luffy and Zoro had begged Nami for some food, which she reluctantly gave them.

She didn't mention that she would be charging them for it later. With extra added on interest.

Luffy sighed. It was kind of interesting sailing with Nami. She always wanted them to do stuff. She said it was to get them to where they needed to go, so Luffy obeyed. She was really interesting when he told her that he left some of her money behind to help repair the village. He didn't know she could be so strong.

Zoro was afraid of Nami. He didn't want to admit it, but she terrified him. Whenever Luffy said that Nami was interesting, he could only remember the horrendous beating Nami had given him when he told her that he had left a bag of money for the Mayor to rebuild his village.

Nami had managed to get them to an island where they met a strange idiot named Gaimon. He looked like his hair was made of grass and it was styled like an afro. He had fallen into a small treasure chest and had been trapped within for 20 years. He had been stuck on the island inside that box because he saw a bunch of treasure chests on top of a plateau and wanted to see what was inside them. His crew had abandoned him on this island a long time ago.

Gaimon shot Luffy multiple times for eating some of the animals on the island. He told Luffy and Nami that they were his only friends for 20 years.

They had helped Gaimon with his goal. There were a bunch of treasure chests on a plateau that he couldn't reach, so Luffy had Gum Gum Rocketed up to the top.

Luffy confirmed that there were five treasure chests, but he didn't want to throw them down. Nami had been outraged, thinking he was going to take it for himself.

But Gaimon had understood. He had wondered the possibility himself. Luffy told them that the chests were empty when Gaimon asked him if they were. He thanked the two for helping out so much. They had been the first real people he had talked to after 20 years.

He still shot Luffy a few more times for eating his precious animals.

"Huh?" Zoro woke up as they left the island, "Did I miss anything?" he asked Luffy.

"Nah, you didn't miss anything." Luffy told him as he munched on a bit of fruit Gaimon gave him so he would stop his poaching.

"Wait! Where did you get that?! Let me have some!" Zoro lunged at Luffy. He wasn't sure if trying to take food away from Luffy was a good idea, but they didn't pick up any supplies as they had left Orange Town.

"Oh my," They heard a feminine voice. Nami's muffled screaming could be heard in the background.

"What a lively bunch you are."

Luffy and Zoro looked up to see a black haired woman wearing purple cowgirl clothing. She was sitting on top of the cabin on Nami's boat.

"Who are you?!" Zoro shouted as he drew his swords. He hadn't sensed the woman.

"Wow! What a huge turtle!" Luffy enthused as he looked at the giant turtle next to their ships.

Zoro couldn't stop a sweat drop rolling down his face. How did they not notice that? It was as big as one of their ships.

"I go by Miss All Sunday." she said as she crossed her legs, "You were impressive in that fight you had with Buggy the Clown, Straw hat."

'More like downright frightening.' Zoro thought. Buggy had been obliterated by Luffy.

"My name is Luffy. Who's Boogy?" Luffy began to pick his nose. He vaguely remembered smashing a few faces in Orange Town, but couldn't remember which one was Boogy.

Zoro couldn't help but notice that Nami had went missing. Maybe she was guarding her hoard of treasure?

"Did you do anything to our Navigator?!" He asked the strange woman named Miss All Sunday.

"I noticed she had a penchant for restraining things..." She looked at Luffy.

"...So I wanted to let her know what it feels like."

Miss All Sunday continued to give them a small smile. "We could use strength like yours. Would you be willing to consider joining our organization?" She jumped down and began to walk towards the two as they stood in their boat.

"Only if I get to be the leader." Luffy said as he pulled a booger out. He wasn't paying too much attention.

Miss All Sunday noticed his lack of attention and used her ability to pull the straw hat from Luffy's head.

She didn't have much time to grab it as she was shoved against the mast of Nami's boat. She gasped as air was forced from her lungs.

A white hand had held her neck against the mast and she stared into the eyes of an enraged Luffy.

"Don't touch my hat." He said as he squeezed a little. It didn't seem like he wanted to suffocate her, as she could still breathe. It was more for intimidation.

She would be lying to say that it didn't work at least a little.

"What's this?" she muttered. She couldn't speak louder than a whisper. The hand was too tight.

"Which fruit did you eat?"

"The Gum Gum Fruit. I'm a rubberman. Now give me back my hat." Luffy was getting impatient. He squeezed a bit more.

Miss All Sunday felt an invisible pressure begin to push down on her. It was beginning to rise in intensity.

"Fufufufu...alright, rubberman." She set the hat back on Luffy's head.

Luffy's mood changed fast. He let go of her as his hand turned back to normal.

Zoro had noticed the pressure as well, but didn't say anything as he sheathed his swords.

Luffy appeared to have this under control.

"I don't want to join your group." Luffy told her as she walked back to the turtle. She needed to get away for now.

"Oh my, what a shame." She got sat on top of her chair located on the turtle. She turned to look at the two. "It would have been interesting. I'll see you around, rubberman."

"Lets go, Banchi." The turtle started to swim away from the two ships.

Miss All Sunday could hear in the background something about cool turtles. She smiled a little, but it faltered as she cleaned a booger off her face.

This,"Luffy", had surprised her. She felt something off about him before she confronted his group. She knew why now.

He had awakened his devil.

She laughed. She certainly hoped to see them again.

* * *

"Ah...it's gone." Luffy sighed as he leaned over the edge of Nami's boat. That turtle was cool.

Nami came running out of the cabin. She looked to be out of breath and she was sweating.

"What happened?! What was that?!" She asked. She saw Luffy leaning over the side, "Hey! Get off my boat! You know the rules!"

Luffy found himself sailing through the air. He then felt his head land on the deck of his boat.

"Where did you go, Navigator?" Zoro yawned, "You just missed something interesting."

"I was just checking the treasure when I got restrained by something! I just now got out." Nami was beginning to calm down. It seemed everything was alright.

"Restrained? By what?"

"I don't know! There wasn't anything around me..." Nami trailed off. Being around these two brought too much trouble.

"Oh! Nami! There you are! Where did you go?" Luffy picked his head off the deck.

"Jeez, I just told you!" Nami sighed as she sat down. "We're coming across a village named Syrup Village. It's to the North. We can get more supplies there. She eyed Luffy and Zoro. She had told them that they needed a bigger ship, and they agreed, not really paying too much attention.

"Where'd all this fruit come from?! What the hell happened while I was asleep?!"

Those two didn't plan anything out and it drove her nuts! It didn't help that they ate most of their food supplies.

Nami raised her interest rate. They would pay for making her drag them across the sea!

* * *

The group eventually arrived at the island. It seemed pretty peaceful. The scenery was tranquil. The waves rolled against the cliffs as they docked on the island.

"Who's that over there?" Zoro pointed towards four figures in the distance.

"Ah! We've been found!" They heard them scream. One of them stepped forth and stood before them.

"I am the great pirate fleet leader, Ussop, who is in charge of the security of this village!" He crossed his arms and yelled. His voice was pretty loud. "I'm also known as "Captain". "Captain Ussop!""

This, "Captain Ussop" looked pretty scared. His knees were shaking as he announced who he was. He had a very long nose, about half a foot long. His shaggy hair and brown overalls didn't do much for his image as he tried to look intimidating.

Zoro thought Luffy looked more intimidating when he ate. Now that was scary.

He boasted about his great legion of men, but Nami and Zoro saw through his lies. Ussop's face had a greatly exaggerated shocked look each time his lies were dispelled. Luffy laughed. This guy entertained them.

Ussop learned that they were peaceful pirates and decided to treat them to a meal. He led them to a restaurant in town. Ussop also found that Luffy was looking for companions for his adventure to become the Pirate King. He told them of Kaya, a rich lady who had just lost her parents and was going through great sorrow. Nami decided to look somewhere else for a better boat. Luffy agreed, but he wanted to stock up on meat supplies. He had a good idea, but she needed to get more than just meat.

Ussop left, telling them that he had somewhere he needed to be. Luffy had ordered some rare meat, unknowingly adding to the bill.

Nami would be pissed.

Three children came into the restaurant. They wielded wooden swords and ran up to Luffy's group.

Luffy was busy devouring his meat. Blood splattering in almost every direction.

"Hey! Don't get that all over the place!" Yelled Nami as she kicked Luffy leg from under the table. He didn't notice as he kept chomping into the meat.

"What did you do with our boss?!" The kids yelled while eying the man with the bloody meat.

"Ah! This is delicious!" Luffy exclaimed as he lifted his head. Teeth sharpened and stained crimson.

The kids paled as they looked at the monstrous Luffy.. They looked close to fainting on the spot. They gasped and sputtered as they asked the group what Luffy had done to their Captain.

Zoro put on an evil looking smile. He turned towards the kid and told them, "Your Captain...we ate him!"

The kids screamed as the looked at Nami and called her a witch.

Little did they know by doing that they would make Nami much scarier than Luffy.

The kids dropped cold to the ground. They had fainted on the spot. Nami scolded Zoro, saying that was a mean thing to do, but she couldn't help but laugh.

The kids woke up some time later. Luffy had cleaned the plate as well as his face and looked like he didn't just consume his meal.

The kids told them about Ussop's lying and about Kaya. He went there every day to cheer her up with his fake stories. Nami and Zoro were a bit impressed that he would do that kind act. Luffy wasn't listening though. He asked if the lady was feeling better and the kids said that she was. Luffy then told his crew that they were going to go get a boat from her, which they had objected to.

* * *

Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and the three kids arrived at Kaya's mansion. The kids brought them there to go see Ussop. The saw Ussop telling a story to a blonde woman inside a mansion. Ussop sat under a tree across a window which the lady leaned out of.

After Ussop told Kaya that they were his subordinates and some objections from Luffy, Kaya's butler, Kurohadol showed up. The man wore a black suit with glasses that he would constantly push up with his palm. He denied Luffy's request for a ship and started to harass Ussop. He continually insulted Ussop, but when he started to disgrace his father for being a pirate, Ussop punched Kurahadol as hard as he could.

Kurohadol was knocked to the ground.

Kaya begged Ussop to stop. She told them that Kurohadol was a good person, and he was just trying to protect her. Ussop looked betrayed. He didn't expect her to take Kurohadol's side. Kurohadol demanded Ussop to leave, which he did while saying he would never return.

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami looked on along with the three kids. It wasn't any of their business. Kurohadol then directed his frustration towards them, demanding they leave as well.

* * *

"Oh? So you were here?"

Ussop was surprised and turned to see Luffy walking towards him. Ussop had run off to the coast. He liked watching the waves from the cliffs. It calmed him down.

"Don't scare me like that!" Ussop wanted to be alone. He didn't expect anyone to find him here.

"Your father is Yassop, right?" Luffy asked as he sat next to Ussop.

"Huh?! Yeah, he was! How do you know him?" Ussop asked. This guy was just full of surprises.

Luffy began to tell Ussop about his father. How he was a great shooter, how he loved his son, and that he was a great pirate. Ussop felt glad to have met Luffy. He had cheered him up.

"I'm really proud of my father." Began Ussop as he stood up, "He had the courage to go out to the great sea despite the many dangers."

"That man insulted my father! I hate him!" Ussop finished. It felt good to say these words.

"I hate him too." Luffy said. The man insulted Yassop. Luffy really liked Yassop.

Ussop sat down. They stayed silent for a while.

"Are you going back to see your friend again?" Luffy asked. Ussop had looked pretty upset back there when he said he was never going to return.

Ussop sighed. "I'll go if that stupid butler apologizes to me." Ussop claimed though it was a lie.

He wouldn't stop visiting Kaya just because of some idiot who didn't know what he was talking about.

"Oh? Here's your chance. He's right down there." Luffy pointed down the cliff.

"What?!" Ussop yelled with a surprised face, his eyes popping out. "What's he doing here?!" he muttered to himself.

Luffy laughed next to him. Ussop's face was really weird.

They listened to Kurohadol talking to the strange man named Jango. It was revealed that Kurohadol was actually Kuro. A famous pirate that was said to have been executed.

Kuro was telling Jango the plan he had set into motion 3 years ago. He originally wanted a normal life, but became bored of it, and planned to take Kaya's wealth.

"It seems like you don't remember the plan at all, Jango." Kuro said as he pushed his glasses up with his palm.

"Don't be stupid." Jango muttered, "Can't you just kill the girl and inherit her money? We'll kill everyone else so no one would know that she was unwilling."

"No one would accept that she would just give her money to someone who wasn't part of her family." Kuro had a wicked gleam in his eye.

"You just have to hypnotize her to obey my every command. I'll order her to marry me and I'll get her fortune this way. Besides, it would be wasteful to just get rid of her. She can be very useful. I might be intellectually superior, but even I get lonely at times."

Ussop was shocked. He had just overheard something very bad.

"Hey, what are they talking about?" Luffy asked. "I don't really understand. What's "marry" mean?"

"They're talking about killing the village...they're going to hurt Kaya!" Ussop was sweating. He couldn't believe this. What could he do? He didn't want Kaya to have to go through this! This was just way too much!

"What?!" Exclaimed Luffy. That girl seemed nice, but he wanted a ship! He couldn't get a ship if she was hurt.

He'd feel bad.

"Don't you hurt that girl!" Luffy shouted from the cliff. Jango and Kuro looked up at him.

Ussop was beyond afraid now. Tears fell from his rolled up eyes as he held up his hand in silent protest.

"Oh? It's you." Kuro said as he looked up at Luffy. He was a bit surprised, but he would be taken care of.

"Hurry! Get down before they see you!" Ussop exclaimed to Luffy. He stood up next to Luffy.

"Ussop's there as well?" Kuro said aloud.

Ussop froze and looked down at Kuro. He quickly tried to hide himself against the ground, but it was too late.

"So, you heard everything?" Kuro asked. He was going to kill them anyway, but he wanted to know.

"I heard everything." Luffy left out the part where he didn't understand any of it.

"Don't tell them that!" Ussop smacked Luffy's foot. "They'll kill us!"

Jango decided to take care of them. He carefully explained his technique to them. If they knew what he was going to do, they would be caught more easily.

"Luffy! Look away from the ring!" Ussop cried as he shut his eyes. He had his eyes covered with his hands for extra protection.

"Jango!"

Luffy instantly fell asleep. He wanted to beat the technique, but was too weak to mental manipulation to put up much resistance.

"Hey, wake up. You still didn't take care of the problem." Kuro prodded Jango. What kind of moron got caught in his own hypnotism?

He was interrupted by a nearby thud. Luffy had fallen from the cliff and laid in a small crater.

"I didn't want to kill you, but it looks like you fell off the cliff. That was your own fault." Jango snorted as he woke up. It looked like his technique was a success.

Ussop felt stunned. He liked Luffy and he had just died in front of him. Tears began to start falling from his eyes again.

"Should I kill him as well?" Jango asked Kuro as he reached for his rings. He was going to show off another tricked he had learned.

Ussop was scared. He didn't want to die! He needed to tell the whole village about Kuro!

"Don't bother. It's not like anyone will believe this one." Kuro said with a smirk. It might have been a small problem, but it was dealt with. He didn't like problems in his plans.

Kuro began to walk away, reminding what Jango should do the next morning. The fortune would be his.

Ussop was deeply saddened. He knew that Kuro was right. No one would believe him, but he was still going to try!

He needed to! For Kaya!

Ussop ran towards the village. He loved this village! He loved the people! And he never said it aloud, but he loved Kaya as well!

He saw his crew loitering around with Zoro and Nami. They had questioning looks on their faces as they looked over at him. He didn't know, but his appearance was very panicked. His motions were jerky as he forced himself to move as fast as he could.

"Everyone!" He yelled as he ran by, straight to the village center. "Everyone! Danger! The pirates are coming!" He screamed. He needed to get these people out of here! Ussop didn't want anyone to die!

Some of the villagers approached him. They were getting tired of his constant lying. He tried his best to convince them, but they were unmoved.

"_Don't bother. It's not like anyone will believe this one." Kuro said with a smirk._

Ussop kept remembering the words of Kuro and how he looked when he said that to him. It was the sinister look of someone who knew he had won.

Ussop continued to plead with the villagers. He couldn't let them die! He had to get them away!

He continued his begging as the more ill-tempered villagers closed in, makeshift weapons in hand.

* * *

Luffy continued to sleep, blissfully unaware as a woman in purple cowgirl clothing watched him nearby atop a rock.

She sighed. It appeared that his mind was too susceptible to tricks.

He stirred in his sleep. His face beginning to frown.

She wondered what was so special about this man. She felt that he had a weird aura around him.

Miss All Sunday had confronted many powerful people in the past, but she had never felt this before. It wasn't fear, and it certainly wasn't awe.

She got up and walked closer. The feeling just got more intense.

His face was scowling. It appeared he was having a nightmare.

She knelt next to him and watched his face. She never noticed that the skin on his legs and arms began to turn white.

She sat there for a few minutes. This, "Luffy", was certainly a strange guy. Judging from his actions, he seemed to be selfish and rude.

But she saw how he always protected those he liked. He had stopped Buggy multiple times from harming Roronoa Zoro and he stopped the Mayor from going to his death.

Luffy's eyes shot open just has his skin suddenly transformed.

This caught her off guard, she attempted to get up but found a clawed hand had wrapped around her neck as he slammed her against the ground.

She would have laughed and made a comment about trying to meet in different circumstances, but she was unable to as a fearsome grin blocked her eyesight.

The feeling was stronger than ever. It consumed her. It was just too much to bear.

She saw weird slits had formed on his face. It was absent of anything but the grin and the slits. Even his hair had disappeared.

She felt a tinge of disgust as she also noted that his clothes disappeared, but the figure was mostly plain so there were no noticeable features were present on this creature.

The slits began to open. Something that looked like pure darkness had seeped from his eyes.

This was beginning to frighten her. She didn't know what it was, but she was scared to peer into the void that this thing could call eyes.

Miss All Sunday didn't have a choice as they opened completely.

Her whole world was filled with terror as she shook.

She felt like she was going to pass out. The feeling was too overwhelming.

Never in her whole life had she felt this much fear! It felt like this thing was consuming her spirit!

Struggling to hold onto consciousness, she managed to resist the thing's ability.

It was taking too much out of her though. She felt exhausted as it felt as if her energy was being drained from her.

Miss All Sunday couldn't see the creature's grin become wider. Her world grew darker and darker till she finally lost consciousness.

* * *

"What?! Pirates are actually coming?!" The kids cried.

Zoro and Nami were beginning to worry where Luffy was. They asked the kids if they would take them to where Ussop frequented when he felt down.

There they had found Luffy passed out on his back. He had a slight smile on his face.

That quickly disappeared when Nami hit him on the head. He screamed and put his hands on the welt that was beginning to form.

After some confusing explanation from Luffy, they managed to discover Kurohadol was Kuro and he was planning on harming Syrup Village and Kaya.

"Yeah." Luffy said as he got up. "Didn't Ussop tell everyone?"

The kids looked down. He had told the village, but nobody believed him.

"Why were you just sleeping here then?" Zoro asked as he cracked his neck. It had been a while since he got some exercise. All the sleeping he did was getting to him.

"Um...I don't know. I was standing at the top of the cliff. Then I just fell asleep." Luffy said with some sweat running down his face. He didn't want to tell them he had been tricked.

* * *

"_The worst person is you!"_

Ussop ran out of the village. He was covered in scratches and bruises, but he kept running.

Kaya's words rang through his head. He had stopped by her mansion to save her. Some bodyguards got in his way, but he took them out. He needed to save Kaya!

Ussop put a hand to his face. A red mark had formed in the shape of a hand. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes.

Kaya didn't believe him. He just wanted to protect her...

He slowed down as he reached the edge of the village. He looked back at it.

Kuro's words joined Kaya's. He began to be overwhelmed by the memories.

Ussop wanted to save the village! He wanted to save Kaya!

Tears flowed down his face.

But...he just couldn't!

"Captain!"

He heard the voices of his friends. He wiped the tears away.

"Oh! It's you guys!"

He was shocked to see Luffy with them. He thought he had died, but it looked like he was alright. They began to question him about the pirates.

He tried to hide his arm. Blood flowed freely from it from a particularly nasty wound.

Ussop smiled as wide as he could. He told them that it was just a story he made up about Kurahadol for being mean to him.

Luffy, Nami, and Zoro were confused. Zoro and Nami believed Luffy. He was too stupid to lie to them.

The kids took off, merrily wondering about the rest of their day.

* * *

Later that night, Ussop had asked Luffy and his crew to meet with him. They arrived to see Ussop sitting on the ground.

He told them about his lie about lying about the pirates and Kuro. He was planning on waiting for their arrival on the shore. He told them about his love for the village even though they had attacked him. Ussop didn't want to do nothing about the pirates! He wanted to protect his home!

Luffy remembered Shushu and how he had died fighting against a force must stronger than it.

He looked at Ussop's face. Luffy could feel the fear emanating from the man in waves, but he was still going to fight for the things he loved.

"We'll help you too."

Ussop looked at Luffy. He didn't expect him to actually offer help.

"Don't worry, Ussop! We won't let you fight alone." Zoro grinned. He thought Ussop was a pretty good guy.

"I'll help as well, but I get to have all the treasure!" Nami exclaimed.

" Jeez, you don't do anything for free, do you?" Zoro sighed. He had expected Nami to be a bit of a better person.

"You guys are actually willing to fight with me?" Ussop said with tears in his eyes. He kinda ignored the injured looking Zoro behind Nami. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Because you're outmatched and outnumbered." Luffy said. His hands cracking as he popped his knuckles.

"Cause you have fear written all over you." Zoro said as he got up. Nami could probably take on them just by herself.

"Fear?! I'm the great Captain Ussop! I'm not scared!" Ussop exclaimed while he stood up. He couldn't stop his knees from shaking. He had sat down so he could keep them restrained, but he got caught up in the moment.

Luffy and his crew just stared at him as he tried to regain control of his body.

* * *

They went over their battle plan as they awaited morning. Kuro and his gang would attack from the slope as it was the only way into the village. He had asked what their specialties were and was a bit unimpressed with Luffy and Nami. What good would stretching and stealing be in this situation?

They waited till morning, and yet there was no sign of the pirates.

"Is it me, or can I hear someone shouting "Go!" in the distance?"

"Oh crap!" Ussop panicked. He forgot about the entrance located to the North.

He quickly told Luffy, Zoro, and Nami that they needed to head North, and he ran off.

Ussop arrived just in time to see the pirates heading up the slope. He took aim with his slingshot. He fired, hitting several of them and causing the rest to stop.

Ussop exclaimed that he had made preparations for their arrival and that he, Captain Ussop, was going to stop them.

Ussop started to sweat. He made such boasts, but couldn't really go through with it. He wondered what had happened to everybody.

* * *

Luffy ran all around. He didn't know which way North was. Ussop should have told him which way to go.

Zoro looked up at the slope. He knew he could defeat this! If he didn't, he couldn't call himself a man!

He unsheathed two of his swords, choosing not to draw Wadō Ichimonjil. He looked up again.

Using his swords, he managed to climb up the slope Ussop had prepared for the pirates. It was covered in oil which prevented him from climbing it without his swords.

He ran, sheathing his swords as he did so. He hoped he would make it to the battle before Luffy had taken them all out. He just needed to go North!

* * *

Ussop was lying on the ground. He had just been struck with a stone mallet one of the pirates had been carrying.

Memories of Kaya and the village flashed through his mind. It was so peaceful...

Ussop grabbed the one that had hit him. The pirate protested against this and began to swing at Ussop with the mallet, wanting him to let go.

"I won't allow..." Ussop began. He glared at the pirate as he looked up. "I won't allow any of you to pass this slope! I may have been a liar my whole life, but I won't allow you to taint this village with your evil!" He yelled at the pirates.

Nami watched as he said this. This guy was just trying his best to protect his home.

"Just shut up already!" A pirate shouted as he ran towards Ussop with a sword drawn.

Ussop was just about to be run through when Nami attacked the pirate, swinging her staff as hard as she could into the man. The other pirates had been taken by surprise, but one of them tried to cut her.

Nami blocked the hit, but was sent flying into the side of one of the walls that lined the slope. She grunted as she felt pain course through her back.

The pirates wore lecherous smiles. She may have been young looking, but her body didn't look too bad.

Some of them drooled.

"Hey! Just get into the village!" Jango yelled as he approached the group from the bottom of the slope.

"Did you all forget what Captain Kuro's plan was?! He'll kill us if we don't get in there!" Jango was sweating. They were a bit late and Kuro had a vicious temper.

The pirates stopped and realized what he said was true. Captain Kuro would murder them all if they didn't follow his plans exactly. They rushed past the injured Nami and Ussop.

"W-wait!" Ussop cried as he grabbed one of the pirates passing by.

"Hey! Let go!" The pirate yelled as he hit Ussop repeatedly. He didn't want to die.

"Don't kill anyone!" Ussop shut his eyes. They were all just running by him and he couldn't do a thing.

He heard a commotion and looked up. There were a bunch of people flying past him.

"Don't know if I can do that, but I guess I could try."

He looked ahead and saw Luffy and Zoro standing ahead, blocking the path to the village.

"Don't just leave me next time, you witch!" Zoro shouted at Nami.

"Ussop! I went where it was colder but I still didn't get here! This isn't North, idiot!" Luffy shouted at Ussop.

Everyone was surprised to see them.

"Wait! North isn't just where it gets colder! Don't put that on me!" Ussop cried out. Luffy stuck his tongue out at him.

When they had showed up, Luffy and Zoro had sent the pirates down the hill. Most were unconscious, others didn't move at all.

"Y-You were that strong?" Ussop stuttered, finally looking at the scene they had caused. It was a combination of shock and pain that had caused his stutter.

Nami appeared upset. "What took you so long?" She had gotten up and headed towards them.

"You should know why!" Zoro was angry. She had used him as a platform to avoid slipping down the south slope.

"You should have led me here, Ussop!" Luffy huffed. He had followed the road from the village and it had led him here after he had run all over the town.

"You ran first, I thought you knew." Ussop muttered. He was fast, but Luffy was in a class of his own.

"They still want to fight?"Asked Luffy as he looked past Ussop. The pirates were struggling to stand up. Most of their number had dwindled due to Luffy and Zoro's attack.

Jango had said a few words and they realized he was trying to hypnotize his comrades to become stronger and faster. Their wounds would heal as well.

"One, two.."

Ussop ran as fast as he could and clasped his hands around Luffy's eyes. Luffy cried out in alarm as his world became dark.

"Jango!"

The pirates got up in a hurry and rushed towards the group. They appeared to have become mad as they rushed with reckless abandon. One of them punched the wall and the group looked on in horror as it cracked.

"Oh no, this is bad!" Ussop shouted. The Black Cat Pirates were closing in on them and they didn't have much time to do anything.

Luffy bopped Ussop in the head. "Why'd you do that!" He shouted, not noticing the approaching pirates. "You surprised me!"

Zoro unsheathed his swords. He was getting excited at the prospect of a fight.

After leaving Ussop alone, Luffy walked with Zoro towards the pirates.

* * *

The Black Cat Pirates didn't stand a chance. They were massacred as they were met by Luffy and Zoro.

None of them were really strong, so they had no problems reaching Jango, who looked nervous.

Jango quickly called out the Nyanban Brothers, their names being Buchi and Sham.

At first they acted weak and scared of the two, but suddenly Sham stole two of Zoro's swords and jumped back.

"Let's see how you do without those swords!" Sham laughed as he retreated, not noticing Luffy heading for him with his arm stretched out.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Sham lost his footing as a fist propelled him some feet backwards. He landed in the dirt and was still.

Buchi became frightened. Their scheme to steal the swords had failed as he looked at his brother. He couldn't fight these two, he would be-

"Tora..!"

Zoro had retrieved his swords while had Buchi trembled.

Slashes appeared on his stomach. He wasn't even able to consider running away as he slowly fell to the ground, defeated.

"...Gari!"

Zoro looked around. None of these people were very strong, he realized. All the pirates except Jango had been beaten.

He and Luffy started approach Jango, who was still at the bottom of the slope.

"Ah!" Jango exclaimed. "That feeling...-!"

Kuro had arrived. He demanded to know why his plan wasn't in action! It had long since passed dawn and they were still at the North slope?!

He had moved past Luffy and Zoro in a blink of an eye. He looked at his defeated subordinates. This was getting too tiresome, Kuro thought as he finished off Buchi and Sham.

Not many had seen Kuro move. Zoro could barely see a figure move through the air.

Luffy stood still. A blank look had crossed his face. He had expected something a little more exciting than these dopes, but a look of surprise crossed his face as he witnessed the Nyanban Brother's death.

He really didn't like Kuro now.

Suddenly, a ring made of metal flew into his head.

Jango had taken this opportunity to try to kill off one of the two monsters, so he threw the ring at the one he thought was the weaker of the two. Captain Kuro could take care of the stronger one.

"Ouch!" Luffy cried. "That really hurt!" Blood gushed from the wound on his head. His hat was becoming stained with his blood.

"Kurahadol!"

Everyone except Luffy looked to the top of the slope, who had taken his hat to look at it.

Kaya had arrived. Kuro rushed up to meet her.

"I heard everything from Merri." She told her former butler.

"Oh? He's still alive?" Kuro replied. He was too consumed by the crescent moon last night to have checked Merri's condition. Kuro didn't need any loose ends. He would go back and end him later.

Kaya turned to Ussop, who had taken refuge near the top of the slope and apologized with tears springing forth from her eyes.

She said that even though the village had hurt him, he continued to fight.

Even after she had hurt him, he fought to protect her.

Kaya offered her wealth to Kuro. She told him that he could have it as long as he left the village.

"You don't understand, Kaya." He told her, "I don't want just treasure."

Nobody noticed Jango getting demolished by an enraged Luffy in the background. Jango's body thudded against the ground as Luffy destroyed him.

Kuro told her about their past together. He reminded her of all the good times and the bad times they had. He told her he was a patient man, but he couldn't wait any longer.

Kaya was confused. She didn't understand what why he was saying these things.

Kaya was sweating. If he didn't want treasure, what could he want?

"I don't just want your wealth, I also want "peace"". Kuro smirked evilly. If she was willing to give him her money, maybe she would be willing to give more than just that.

"Get out of here, Kaya!" Ussop was running towards them, "Just run away!"

"Give yourself to me, Kaya!" Kuro demanded, "Let yourself be hypnotized and give me everything!"

Kaya started silently crying as she realized what Kuro wanted. She thought of Merri and the villagers.

She thought of Ussop. If she wanted them to be safe she would have t-

"KURO!" Ussop shouted as he ran towards him. His face was raised in the air to strike him.

Kuro merely sidestepped Ussop as he attempted to hit Kuro.

"Ah, I remember. You hit me back in the village, didn't you?" He raised one clawed hand up. "I think you owe me something."

Kaya looked on in horror as she saw him start to bring it down upon Ussop.

Kuro didn't get to say much more as a fist slammed into his face, sending him stumbling to the ground.

Ussop stared in wonder at how Luffy's arm stretched so far to hit Kuro.

He changed his mind, stretching was a great skill!

Luffy was walking towards him as his arm returned. A bored look on his face. He had just smashed that idiot hypnotist into the ground for hurting his hat.

Thinking on that, that was actually the most exciting thing that happened to him today.

Kuro slowly stood up. He had been sent flying past Kaya and Ussop, but he didn't care about that. He had bigger troubles to deal with.

Kuro walked past Ussop and Kaya. There was no point in dealing with any of the weak trash at the moment.

He did give Ussop a good kick in the side before he faced Luffy. They stood a few meters apart.

"You got that skill eating a Devil Fruit, didn't you?" Kuro asked. If he did, then this would be bothersome.

"Yeah, I ate the Gum Gum Fruit. I'm a rubberman." Luffy told him.

Zoro walked away, sheathing his swords. This was now his captain's fight.

He thought it was odd that Luffy took every chance he could to tell people he was a rubberman.

Kuro looked to where Jango lay. He was going to have him hypnotize Kaya, but it looked like Jango was in critical condition.

Kuro would kill him later. He looked back at Luffy.

"Tell me. Why are you fighting me?" This straw hat guy had just shown up at of nowhere and ruined his plans. Kuro wanted to know what possible reason this guy could have to oppose him.

Luffy grinned. "Because I want to protect someone." He got in his fighting stance.

Kuro frowned. That was the reason? So stupid.

Kuro charged towards Luffy. He had to drop to the side for Luffy's left fist to miss.

Luffy saw that he had missed and as his arm hit a tree, he grabbed it. He did pulled himself to the tree while his other arm as in position so he would clothesline Kuro.

"Gum Gum Sickle!"

Kuro grunted as Luffy's arm rammed against his neck, causing him to hit the ground with a thud. Luffy had come to fast for even him. Luffy didn't stop as he flew into the forest.

The Black Cat Pirates couldn't believe what they were seeing! Their seemingly invincible Captain Kuro was being defeated!

Kuro stood up shakily. He hadn't even taken more than two hits and he was already in a bad shape! All of his plans were being wasted by this one man! Three years and careful planning!

Two feet shot from the forest and almost impacted Kuro's body. He tried to slash the legs, but they went back into the forest.

"Gum Gum..." a brief pause filled the area.

"...Rocket!" Luffy shouted as he flew out of the forest.

Kuro moved to the side as Luffy went past him.

Luffy skid across the ground, twisting and stretching so his leg was headed towards Kuro's lower body.

With a cry of "Gum Gum Whip!" he tried to strike Kuro's legs, but he jumped into the air.

Luffy turned and stretched his fist back as he aimed at Kuro's form in the air.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

His fist headed for Kuro, but he disappeared before it hit.

Kuro stood atop Luffy's arm, but Luffy had already started to retract his arm causing Kuro to fall awkwardly to the ground.

"Captain Kuro!" The Black Cat Pirates cried. They were getting on Luffy's nerves.

* * *

Ussop ran to Kaya and checked to see if she was alright. Aside from being a bit traumatized by Kuro, she had a slight fever. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible!

He looked to see Kuro's fall and couldn't help but laugh.

Ussop began to check to see where Zoro and Nami were. Zoro was sitting to the side, watching the fight and Nami was gone. He would have wondered where she went, but he needed to get Kaya out of there.

Zoro looked up to see Ussop take Kaya out of the area. He thought that was well thought out. Having her here was dangerous. Kuro's goal was to hypnotize her, after all.

He watched Luffy pull a section of the ground and block Kuro's swords with it. He proceeded to destroy Kuro's "claws".

The reason why he was so feared in East Blue was because there wasn't much opposition. Everyone here was weak.

'Well, not everyone.' He thought as he watched Luffy backfisted Kuro into a wall. They were down in the middle of the slope now.

Luffy hadn't transformed the entire fight. He actually had a smile on his face as he hurt Kuro.

The only time Zoro was able to notice his transformation is when Jango did something stupid and paid for it. Luffy's fists had turned white as he pounded Jango's head into the ground.

Some time had passed during Luffy's fight. Zoro didn't care as Kuro said he would kill his crew. He kinda expected a rotten thing from him.

What Zoro did care about was that Kuro disappeared and gashes formed in the walls.

One of those gashes was too close to Zoro's neck for comfort so he decided it would be better if he jumped to the top of the wall.

* * *

Nami had just finished raiding the Black Cat Pirates' ship and was disappointed to find almost nothing.

No wonder they were willing to work with a freak like Kuro. They were dirt poor.

She watched as Kuro's crew were suddenly ripped to shreds.

'What's happening?!' She thought. They might have been pirates, but she didn't believe people had to die!

* * *

"What does your crew mean to you!? Stop this!" Luffy shouted, his voice was a bit warped.

Kuro obliged. "I'll stop when you die, straw hat!" he told him.

He took a glance at his dying crew mates, "But since you didn't die in that attack, it looks as though you've prolonged their torture." Kuro mocked, "But don't worry! You'll perish in this next wave!"

Luffy said nothing, a frown beginning to adorn his face. He stood still as one of his fists turned white.

Luffy was done. No more playing around.

Kuro did his technique, but wasn't able to hold it for long since Luffy grabbed the clawed hand that was inches away from his chest.

"What? But how di-" Kuro watched as Luffy's hand crushed the blades like they were nothing.

He grabbed Kuro's shirt, his hand's fingers wrapping around his entire body.

"Let's see you dodge this, caretaker." Luffy brought back his white fist and smashed it into Kuro's head.

What remained of Kuro's glasses were shoved into his eyes. The shards cutting the soft flesh. Blood poured from his head as Luffy's fist continued to grind against his head.

Kuro dropped to the ground with a wet smack.

"Good job, Luffy." Luffy heard Zoro say from higher ground. He looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, but he sure did like to talk a lot." Luffy checked his hat for any damage. It still had the scuff from Jango, but other than that, it was fine.

He looked back to Kuro. Luffy thought of something fun to do.

* * *

"Take this back!" He shouted to the Black Cat Pirates as they were picking their beaten and bloodied bodies off the ground.

The pirates screamed as they saw their former captain flying at them. They thought he had come back to kill them.

Luffy laughed as he watched Kuro's body hit the ground head first while his crew ran away. They ran past Jango as well in their fear.

He saw Nami come towards him. They both sat down at one of the walls.

Nami looked at Luffy as they got settled. "What made you so upset a while ago? You got really pissed before you beat that "Kuro" guy."

"I hate him. He misled his men." Luffy replied. He started to lie down on the ground. "I'm tired. I want to eat meat."

Nami watched as he picked his head off the ground and looked at Kuro and Jango's bodies that were left where they were.

Nami pulled Luffy up by the ear and dragged him back to Meshi, the restaurant they had eaten at.

There was no way she was going to let him eat them. She would have nightmares for weeks.

* * *

"Wow!" "Oh?" "It's a caravel!"

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami exclaimed as they were shown their new ship.

"Its name is the "Going Merry"! I designed it myself!" Said the strange looking man that looked like a goat.

"I thought that the people that had beaten the Black Cat Pirates should have it." He smiled at them.

"Now I'll explain how to steer it." He began as he went to Luffy.

Nami pulled him aside. "He doesn't understand that kind of stuff. Just tell me."

"I also prepared some supplies on the ship as well." Kaya told the group with a kind smile.

"Ah! Somebody stop me!" The group turned to see Ussop roll down the hill with a comically oversized backpack.

His face met Luffy and Zoro's shoes. "Thank you very much." Ussop managed to groan.

The shoes were sticky with something that Ussop was afraid to think about.

Luffy, Nami, and Zoro boarded the Going Merry. They were getting prepared to sail out.

Nami was anyway. Zoro was looking for a place to sleep while Luffy headed into the kitchen area.

"When I come back, I'll tell you about the great adventures I had!"

"Okay! I'll wait for you here."

Nami thought Ussop and Kaya's goodbyes were cute.

She had seen how he tried so hard to stop the pirates from attacking the village.

He was braver than she had originally thought.

Luffy came out of the kitchen with some meat in hand.

Seeing this, Nami thought that they might need to go back into the town to buy more food as she bashed his head into the deck.

They heard Ussop wish them the best out at sea and that he hoped to one day meet with them again.

"Shut up and get on the ship, Ussop." Zoro told him from his sleeping position.

"You're not coming? I'm sure I offered you to join my crew already, right?"

Ussop heard them say it, but couldn't believe it. Tears formed in the corners in his eyes.

"I'm the captain!" Ussop shouted as he boarded the ship. He could hear Luffy raging in the background.

He didn't let his tears show. He was just so happy.

* * *

Miss All Sunday awoke to darkness. She was laying down in the forest and it was currently nighttime.

As she picked herself up, she could...feel the things around her. She felt many..."presences" coming from the village, and several smaller presences around her.

It was hard to get her balance. She needed to get out of here.

She heard some rustling behind some bushes. It was some sort of weird man with glasses. He had weapons of some sort on his hands. He was planning on attacking her as he held his hands in the air.

Miss All Sunday put a hand to her head. All of this information came to her, but she didn't remember making an eye to see who it was. She just knew.

She walked away while she formed some hands on the man. Waking up this late in a weird location was getting on her nerves.

Did Luffy just dump her in some ditch? How rude.

As she performed her trademark clutch, she left the forest.

Kuro's body would later be found in the forest ripped in three pieces. It looked like something had torn him apart.

She arrived at a hidden cave near one of the beaches on the island. She hid her turtle, Banchi, inside one of them.

Miss All Sunday boarded Banchi and he swam off. She laid down in her chair, thinking about what had happened that day.

Luffy had surprised her. It seemed there was much more to him than she had originally thought. Another encounter would be an interesting experience.

Even if she did feel a little fear in meeting with Luffy again, she couldn't help but feel excited.

Miss All Sunday hadn't felt like this in a long time. It seems, the future still held some interesting events in it for her.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**

**If you have any questions, feel free to send a PM! I'm not sure if I'll let you in on future developments, but I'll be glad to answer any questions!**


	5. Pirate Chefs and a Taste of the World

**Hello again everyone! Here's a new chapter of "A Different Take"! Please, let me know what you think!**

**I must add, however, that I was not really pleased about this chapter. I might go back and redo it if it seems to be wrong.**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"The Pirate Flag is finished!"

It's been a day since Luffy and his group left Syrup Village. Luffy had just shown his crew his idea for a pirate flag.

"Well, it's supposed to be a symbol of death. This is actually kinda scary." Zoro added helpfully.

"Your drawing sucks!" Ussop didn't want to sail under this symbol.

Nami stayed silent. She thought the picture might be abstract. Luffy's brain kinda worked that way.

"Here! Let me do it!" Ussop exclaimed as he grabbed the paint supplies.

The rest of the crew watched as he managed to show off his awesome painting skills.

He was gentle in his brush strokes, the soft brush sliding across the material.

He moved quickly, his arm carrying the brush with elegant grace.

After some time, his masterpiece was completed.

"That's your own symbol!" Luffy and Zoro yelled as they bopped him on the head.

"Alright! Alright! I'll draw yours, Luffy!" Ussop surrendered. After a few minutes, Ussop had drawn the Straw Hat's symbol.

"That looks really good!" Nami enthused.

It was much better sailing around with this, she looked at Luffy's, than that.

They had all worked on drawing the symbol on their sail.

Ussop, Nami, and Zoro made Luffy do something else while they painted.

They still had his picture in mind as they shooed him away.

* * *

After what felt like hours, they shouted in joy, "The "Going Merry" is finally completed!"

A cannon was fired as they laid down to rest.

They got back up and ran towards the sound. They weren't going to allow someone to harm their ship!

They just finished painting their symbol on the sail!

Luffy was discovered testing out their cannon.

"Hey, Luffy! What are you doing?" Zoro was tired, but was relieved to find it was Luffy rather than an enemy ship.

He didn't have any long range attacks. Yet.

"I'm practicing firing the cannon." Luffy was concentrating, "I'm trying to hit that rock over there."

Zoro looked towards the rock and couldn't help but sigh.

Luffy could stretch long distances, but his aim sucked. He wasn't even close.

Luffy laughed. "Apparently, I suck!"

"Here, let me do it!" Ussop rushed over. He had always wanted to fire a cannon.

After some quick adjustment, Ussop fired.

The rock exploded and chunks of stone rained from the sky.

"Woah! You did it in one try!" Luffy was happy.

Now he didn't have to worry about firing a cannon.

He began thinking of a new awesome technique. Maybe it would make up for his lack of firing skills.

* * *

Ussop began to boast. If they were so impressed, they should make him cap-

"You can be our sharpshooter." Luffy told him as he headed into the kitchen.

"Alright! But if you don't know how to do anything, you have to make me captain of this ship!"

"Sure." Luffy was picking his nose. Didn't Ussop remember him beating that caretaker into a bloody pulp?

They began to plan their next move. Luffy suggested that they need a vital crew member to complete their journey.

The others agreed, a cook was necessary for future survival on the seas.

"We need a musician!"

Luffy had good ideas, but needed direction. Lots of direction.

"Show yourself! I'll kill all of you!" a voice yelled, coming from the deck.

Luffy went to check it out, the others stayed inside the kitchen.

"How many are there?" Zoro asked. He needed to nap. If Luffy could handle it, then he wasn't needed.

"It's just one."

"Ah, he has it." Zoro mumbled as he began to slumber.

They heard a crash outside.

Zoro sighed as Nami and Ussop looked over to him. "Fine, I'll check it out, but if Luffy already tore that guy into pieces, I'm not cleaning it up."

They looked frightened, would Luffy really tear someone into pieces?

It seemed possible.

"Oh, isn't that Johnny?" Zoro had checked outside. It seemed it was a good idea to go see who was attacking them.

Johnny was someone Zoro didn't want to see ripped into shreds.

"Boss?! Is that you?!" Johnny coughed up some blood. He was currently on his back, Luffy holding him down about to smash his face in.

"Zoro? You know him?" Luffy said as his fist grazed Johnny's cheek. Johnny escaped from Luffy's distracted grasp and ran to Zoro for safety.

"What's going on, Johnny? Where's Yosaku?" Zoro asked. If he remembered correctly, those two were stuck to each other like glue.

"It's bad! Really bad!"

Johnny brought Yosaku over. He was bleeding from the mouth and numerous other wounds on his body.

He explained that his old woulds started opening up and his teeth were falling out.

They had been taking a rest at an island when this ship had fired at them.

"Huh? Not my fault." Luffy said as he picked his nose. "Ussop's the one that hit it."

Ussop apologized profusely. Luffy grinned. That was for trying to be captain.

"You're very stupid!" Nami shouted as she heard his symptoms.

Nami ordered Luffy and Ussop to go get some limes and lemons and make juice out of them.

Nami smirked, that was for bothering her with a cannon after she worked so hard on the sail.

They came back with some nasty looking liquid and poured it into Yosaku's mouth.

Nami explained that it was scurvy, and he should be fine in two or three days.

"You're a miracle doctor!" "I knew that you were good."

"Shut up! If you wanted to be pirates, you should have known this much!" Nami yelled at Luffy and Ussop. She was getting tired to their idiocy for one day.

Yosaku got up and claimed that he was cured. He and Johnny began to dance in joy.

Nami just put her fingers to her temples. This was just too much.

Johnny and Yosaku introduced themselves. They had worked with Zoro in his pirate hunting days.

Yosaku bent over, blood pouring from his mouth and eyes.

"Just go rest already." Zoro told him.

He had worked with them in the past, but he was the one that took care of the stronger bounties. Johnny and Yosaku had helped with the small fries that hung around while he worked.

Luffy and his crew met together while Johnny took Yosaku to their ship. They had decided that they should look for a chef so they wouldn't end up like Yosaku.

Johnny overheard their conversation and told them of a "restaurant ship" that they could look at. It was owned by chefs, so they might be able to find one there.

* * *

As Johnny headed back to his ship to show them where it was, he passed by Zoro.

"I heard that the "hawk-eyes" man you were searching for is known to go there." he told him as he passed by.

Zoro started sweating out of excitement. Finally! After training so hard, he would be able to test his skill!

* * *

"You guys really suck!" Luffy stared down at the broken bodies of Johnny and Yosaku.

They had tried to fight a marine lieutenant by the name of Fullbody, and they lost horribly.

The Going Merry had arrived at the Baratie, the restaurant ship. It was shaped like a giant fish which impressed Luffy immensely. A marine ship pulled up as well with Fullbody demanding if they were a pirate ship and for the captain to show himself.

Luffy stepped forward and told them they were pirates. They had just finished their symbol.

Ussop tried tell Fullbody that they were pirates, but went unnoticed.

Nami didn't say a word as she picked up one of the bounty posters that fell from Yosaku's pocket.

She needed to act fast. She wasted too much time with these idiots.

Fullbody left, claiming that he wouldn't harm them. He was just there on vacation and wanted to rest and relax.

That didn't stop him from ordering his ship to fire upon them.

* * *

Luffy and the crew, plus Johnny and Yosaku, were waiting at a table inside the Baratie.

"Luffy, that was evil." Ussop was sweating. Luffy surprised him. He wondered how Nami was able to handle Luffy's behavior.

"He deserved it." Luffy said as he looked through the menu. Why couldn't they just put "meat" in there so he could order it? Too many fancy words confused him.

Zoro was calm, but inside he wanted to laugh.

That Fullbody didn't expect Luffy to actually grab the cannon ball and fling it back at him.

He briefly wondered if his crew had to pick the pieces of him off the deck or not. He had only heard about the event. He wasn't there to see it as he was too busy napping.

The group was still seated as they saw many cooks enter the dining area and leave. Apparently, all the waiters had left and the cooks had to wait the tables.

Zoro couldn't help but just hate this stupid blonde curly brow asshat. This guy just annoyed Zoro with his face.

A man burst through the doors. He looked pretty weak, and he stumbled over to an empty table.

"Welcome, Mr. Octopus-head!" One of the chefs greeted him with a smile.

"Get me food, now." The man said as he put his foot on the table.

"I'm most sorry, Moron." The chef still had the shit-eating grin on his face, "But do you have any money?"

"Do you want me to pay you with a bullet?" the man pointed a gun at the chef, "That's all I have."

The chef slammed his hands into the man, causing his chair to splinter into many pieces.

The man was caught by surprise, he hadn't expected it and he was too weak.

Some of the chefs had come out to see what the commotion was about.

"Pati!" hollered the head chef as he came out to see what the fuss was about, "What do you think you're doing?! You owe me a chair!"

The man with no money's stomach grumbled. Pati looked down at him and mocked him for being hungry.

Zoro looked over and while he did, he saw the chef he hated. His face looked expressionless as he watched the commotion. His fellow chefs and his customers cheered as the chef named Pati continued to beat the starving man.

Pati threw him out. Zoro watched the blonde chef go into the kitchen, and come out with a plate of rice.

He wasn't the only one that noticed as Luffy got up to go outside.

Luffy wanted to see what this one would do.

"Here." the blonde chef said, "Have this."

Luffy came out and saw the blonde chef put a plate of rice down in front of the beaten man.

The man smiled, and took the food. He rushed to a distance a little away from the blonde chef and began to eat.

"I don't want to be ashamed." the man said as his mouth was filled with food, "But this is the best rice I have ever had in my entire life!" he kept eating as tears fell down his face.

The sounds of crying and munching could be heard as he continued.

"I'm should not be ashamed...I shouldn't be ashamed! But...I thought I would die!" he told the blonde chef.

The blonde chef smiled. "It is delicious, isn't it?" he told the man who cried as he continued to eat.

Memories of starvation and the screams of the tortured rang through Luffy's head.

He decided that he wanted this blonde chef to join him.

* * *

"No!" Luffy shouted, "I refuse!"

The blonde chef and the man looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" the chef asked after a while.

"I refuse your refusal!" Luffy continued to shout. He wanted this man to be his chef!

"Hey, hey." the chef began, "Listen to me."

"Why don't you want to be my chef?!"

"I don't have to tell you that."

Luffy was getting pissed. "But you just told me to listen!". He didn't understand why he refused. Being a pirate was fun.

Sanji got upset. This man was so irritating!

The one he fed introduced himself as Gin, as he tried to stop the arguing. He asked Luffy where he was headed and Luffy told him of his path to the Grand Line.

Gin warned him that he had just come from the Grand Line. He thought Luffy was a nice guy, he didn't want to see him waste his life.

He was loaned a boat by the blonde chef.

As he prepared to set off, he turned to the blonde chef.

"Sanji, I owe you my life. And that rice was very delicious. May I come back?" Gin asked. This was one of the first acts of kindness he had received in his life. It touched him.

Sanji smiled, "Anytime, Gin."

Gin smiled back as he unhooked his ship from the Baratie. Sanji had given him the ship as well.

He was glad. Sanji couldn't stand to see people suffer.

"Sanji." Luffy and Sanji turned to see the head chef looking down at them.

Gin began to apologize to Sanji for causing him trouble, but Sanji said he had nothing to apologize for. He dropped the plate and utensils that Gin had used and claimed there was now no evidence.

Gin bowed his head to Sanji, tears forming in his eyes. He had truly saved his life.

The head chef smirked. He was proud of Sanji.

Luffy and Sanji went back inside. Gin sailed away until he disappeared into the horizon.

* * *

Luffy sat down at his table, putting a booger into Zoro's water as he walked by.

Sanji served this lovely black haired lady near the back.

She had asked for the table specifically and Sanji had quickly cleaned it. He couldn't say no to such a beauty.

But he looked over to where Luffy had sat down and he couldn't stop his heart from beating.

He missed seeing Luffy being forced down to the ground, Zoro holding his glass of water in his mouth.

The most angelic lady was seated at the table Luffy had been at.

She had beautiful orange hair and her wonderful eyes were focused on Luffy.

She was holding back what seemed to be the cutest laugh Sanji would ever be able to hear.

Suddenly an ugly ogre with moss for hair obstructed his vision of heaven.

He rushed over to the table. He missed the soft laughter from the black haired woman that had stayed silent while he served her.

She wasn't here for the food after all.

"Oh, love!" Sanji cried out, "Such a beauty! I'll become a pirate, an evil being, whatever you want me to be!" his eye was replaced with a heart, "Just as long as I could be with you!"

The head chef made himself known to Sanji. He told him to go and become a pirate. The woman was with the straw hat pirate captain, so it was pretty obvious what she must have been a pirate as well.

Sanji was torn. He didn't want to leave this place, but this woman was just too beautiful!

His heart split in two.

"Good, we don't want you anyway, Curly Brow." Zoro added, hoping to convince the blonde chef to stay. He didn't like him too much.

His aura seemed to reek of stupidity.

"What was that, Moss Head?!" Sanji yelled.

This ugly brute had thought that he could get away with blocking the doors to heaven?! Unforgivable!

Thinking about it a bit more, Sanji turned towards the head chef and told him he would stay there. He continue working for him until the day he died.

The head chef got frustrated and slammed him into Luffy's table.

There was no food on it because the Straw Hats didn't order without Luffy around.

The head chef left. Sanji suddenly disappeared into the kitchen and came out with objects he felt an angel should be treated to.

* * *

"This is all for free?! Thank you!" Nami winked at Sanji as she began to dine. She knew that look in his eye and knew that he was a Grade A sucker.

"Hey?! What about us?!" Ussop cried. They waited till Luffy got back to order, but Ussop hadn't been able to order anything!

"Oh? I already ordered you a hot tea and you're still unsatisfied, Asshole?!" Sanji was getting angry.

Too many interruptions while he attended to the angel. He only had a short amount of time to spend with her.

"Thank you!" Nami called to Sanji as he took the plates away. His knees seemed to weaken when she said that.

"You're very tricky, you know?" Zoro couldn't help but sweat at how easily Nami got everything she wanted.

"This is very good tea." Luffy said as he sipped said tea when it arrived.

It must have been the nicest tea he ever had.

* * *

It's been two days since the Straw Hats arrival at the Baratie.

A gigantic galleon ship was sailing towards the restaurant.

"Let's get out of here!" "This doesn't concern us!" "Let's run away!"

Ussop, Yosaku, and Johnny's pleas fell on deaf ears.

Luffy and his crew watched as Gin dragged a man named Don Kreig into the Baratie.

"That ship looks pretty worn down." commented Luffy. The huge ship looked damaged, as if it had been hit by a hurricane.

They heard a commotion from within.

"Do you think we should take a look inside?" Zoro asked as he inspected his swords.

Luffy looked to Nami with a hungry look in his eyes.

She had gotten that look from many men before, but she knew what he really wanted.

Nami sighed. Luffy would owe her a lot of money after all of this was over.

* * *

Miss All Sunday took another sip of her wine.

'This place is really nice.' she thought, 'I could get used to this.'

It had been three days since the Syrup Village incident.

The ability she had gained was troublesome, but after some practice, she was able to sense the presence of any living creature around her.

She didn't know what to call it, but it had been very useful in tracking the Straw Hats down.

Miss All Sunday watched the pirate, Don Kreig, as he demanded the journal of Red Leg Zeff.

She frowned as she watched the spectacle.

This Don Kreig was too incompetent to survive on the Grand Line. No wonder he came back with his fleet destroyed.

Her employer had considered offering an invitation to him, but he was deemed "too weak".

Those were very fitting words for the pirate.

Sanji, the chef who had given her drinks for free, stood near Zeff, the head chef.

He had a pained look across his face as Kreig talked about Zeff's fighting ability and how it had vanished once he lost his leg.

Maybe there was a story involved about this?

She began to sense some familiar people.

Miss All Sunday smiled as she took another sip of wine.

Things were about to get interesting.

"After I get that journal, I will gather men and go back to the Grand Line!" Don Kreig proclaimed.

"I will aquire "One Piece" the ultimate treasure, and I'll be the gre-"

"Wait a minute."

Luffy stood in the doorway. It seemed he had heard Don Kreig's voice.

She wondered how the "strongest pirate" in East Blue fared against a "no-name" pirate.

* * *

"I'm going to be the greatest pirate, not you." Luffy pointed at Don Kreig.

Don Kreig turned around, annoyed that he had been interrupted.

He didn't expect anyone would be stupid enough to confront him.

"What the hell are you saying. Take your words back." Don Kreig demanded as he prepared to fire upon this upstart.

"I'm not going to take back the truth."

"Luffy! You need any help?" Zoro called out.

Ussop stood next to him as they walked in. He tried to look imposing, but he ended up looking a bit weird.

"Nah, you guys just stand back. I can handle this."

Don Kreig laughed. This kid was going to fight him?! And his crew! They were just a bunch of babies!

He decided to give them an ultimatum. Leave the ship, or die.

Kreig left with the food Zeff had prepared. His men were dying while he still needed them.

Luffy looked disgruntled. Kreig had laughed at him and his crew.

He grinned. Kreig would learn the hard way why it was wrong to laugh at others.

He could hear Gin apologizing in the background. Something to do with leading Kreig there.

Luffy didn't care. Kreig was here now and his face would get smashed in.

* * *

Nami watched some man in great golden armor come out of the Baratie.

Belli appeared in her eyes as they glowed. She wished she could get Luffy to take it from him.

Then she noticed the sack on his back.

She smirked, assuming it was treasure.

'He better not look away.' she thought as she jumped off the Going Merry.

It would be hers before long.

She watched Kreig feed his men. He threw the sack of food in the middle and they all fought each other for a piece.

Nami was disappointed. She had thought it was treasure.

That didn't stop her from sneaking by the celebrating men into their treasury. It looked like they valued the food more than treasure at the moment.

She took what appeared to be of value and left. Not before she witnessed the man in gold shoot one of his subordinates.

She regretfully thought about Luffy. He was so different than most pirates.

A tear fell from her eye as she remembered some of the things she had been through with Luffy and Zoro.

Even Ussop.

She snuck aboard the Going Merry. Managing to trick Yosaku and Johnny, she pushed them off and told them to thank Luffy and his crew.

It was fun, but it was time to go.

The Going Merry moved farther from the Baratie.

Tears formed in her eyes.

She wished she could meet with them again and have more adventures.

She began to cry.

Nami hoped that they could remain friends, despite her actions.

But you can't always get what you want.

Nami didn't notice the galleon ship being cut in half as she headed into kitchen to steer the ship.

* * *

"I want only her to be my navigator!" Zoro heard Luffy say.

Zoro told had him that they should just leave her be.

Luffy was too stubborn at times, but he was the captain.

He was beginning to get a headache. There was no fighting Luffy, he had learned that after sailing with him.

He knew an order when one was given. The swordsman told Ussop to hurry up.

Zoro wouldn't let his shaky knees slow him down.

Screams of terror caught Zoro's attention, and looked where it had originated. Sweat formed on his brow as he heard a certain name being called out.

"Yes," he could hear Zeff say as he answered his crew's question.

"Because he is Hawk-Eyes. The Greatest Swordsman in the World."

He watched as The Kreig Pirates tried to attack the man in black. They couldn't even hit him with their guns.

Zoro began to make his way to a coffin-shaped boat in which the man was sitting.

"I've never seen such gentle skill with a blade before!" Zoro was getting excited. His goal stood before him!

"If a sword doesn't have gentleness, it can not be strong." The man replied. His voice soft, but it could be heard even from Zoro's distance.

His voice even cut through the air. It held the sound of power within it.

"I have looked for you for a long time." Zoro began to fasten his bandana to his head.

"What business do you have with me?" The man asked while sitting. He never got up the entire time he had been there.

"The ultimate power!" Zoro told him as he tightened his bandana.

"You've got time, right? Why don't you face me?" Zoro unsheathed his weapons.

He could hear the surrounding rabble shouting to themselves.

Nothing else mattered anymore. All of his searching was finally over!

* * *

Luffy stood silent as he watched Zoro confront the man in black.

He listened as Zoro told the man that it was his dream to face him.

Luffy sighed. Zoro was just too ambitious sometimes.

"Unfortunately, I do not carry a knife smaller than this." The man in black said, his voice sincere.

"Please, forgive me."

He wielded a very tiny knife. It was a bit smaller than a steak knife.

Zoro appeared upset. Luffy frowned.

He was letting his emotions get the better of him.

Zoro rushed forwards, his hands at opposite sides with the swords facing upwards as he prepared one of his greatest techniques.

"Oni..!"

"You are just a big fish who has been trapped in his pond for too long. You haven't even begun to see the World."

Zoro swung his blades forward.

"...Gi-"

His momentum had been stopped.

The man held the small blade at Zoro's swords. It had obstructed their path.

'This guy is too strong for Zoro.' Luffy realized. He wished he could help, but...

Zoro's dream had something to do with this guy. Luffy would not interfere.

Even if Zoro died. Luffy understood to some degree.

Zoro went mad. He began to swing his swords in a flurry of strikes.

"Such rage!" the man mused aloud, "You've got great strength!"

His words only made Zoro angrier. This man was toying with him! The World couldn't be this different!

"Tora...!" Zoro couldn't take it! He would show that he was strong!

Zoro wasn't able to finish his technique. The man stepped forwards and stabbed Zoro.

* * *

Luffy struggled to keep himself down. He skin was already white and his face had changed.

He needed to stay down! This was Zoro's fight! His dream!

Ussop looked over at Luffy and became scared. He'd never seen this before! What was going on?!

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as Roronoa Zoro fought Dracule Mihawk.

Judging by his skill, Roronoa Zoro would be murdered horrendously.

He had only experienced weaklings in this sea. He couldn't possibly hope to challenge the World's Greatest Swordsman.

She looked over at Luffy.

'Oh my. He really doesn't know how to control himself.' She thought. She could feel the pressure he exuded, but it no longer scared her.

Having a personal experience of its full force had weakened its effect on her.

She tried to drink some more, but found her glass to be empty.

Frowning, she set the glass down and crossed her legs.

Miss All Sunday hoped Luffy did something. She wanted to see more of his abilities.

* * *

"Tell me your name, kid." Mihawk asked. The man in front of him held great potential.

He hadn't seen such strength of will in a while!

"Roronoa Zoro." the green haired man told Mihawk as he begun to twirl his swords.

Roronoa Zoro! He wished to see more! He needed to!

'Such great potential!' He mused. Mihawk looked forward to what the future held for this young man.

"I'll remember your name, Roronoa Zoro." Mihawk told him, "I shall grant you the opportunity to experience the strongest sword in the World!" he rushed forward.

He hoped Roronoa Zoro would survive. It would be such a waste if he were to die here.

"Santoryu Ogi:...!" Mihawk could feel the power coming from his blades.

Roronoa was even stronger than he had expected!

"Sanzen Sekai!"

Mihawk swung his blade, putting some effort behind it.

He wouldn't disgrace Zoro's loss with a lack of trying. Mihawk respected Zoro's spirit too much to do that.

* * *

Luffy watched as Zoro and the man in black crossed swords. They had just passed by each other and stood still.

The ocean split in half behind Zoro, what remained of the platform had been cut as well.

The swords in Zoro's hands had been cut in half. The only thing that had been undamaged was the one he held in his mouth.

He slowly sheathed the blade and turned to face the man.

"Boss!" Yosaku and Johnny cried next to him, "We'll help you!"

Luffy grabbed the back of their shirts, preventing them from rushing ahead.

"Sit down!" He commanded, his voice warped from his transformation.

Yosaku and Johnny shied away from Luffy. He had scared them with his look.

Too think he had commented that Zoro couldn't control his emotions.

Luffy had noticed it as well. He wondered how often he had actually done this.

"What are you doing?" The man asked. He seemed to be confused why Zoro had faced him.

"It's disgraceful..." Zoro paused as blood seeped from his mouth.

"...for a swordsman to be hit from behind."

The man smiled. The first one he had shown the entire fight.

"Splendid!" He said as he slashed Zoro with the black sword.

Blood flew through the air as Zoro was almost split in two from the cut.

Thought abandoned Luffy and he shot towards the man in black, murder written all over his face.

* * *

Sanji couldn't believe it. Moss Head told him he would give his life for his dream, but he still couldn't believe it!

He was up against a much stronger opponent! The Greatest Swordsman in the World?! Didn't he know what he was trying to accomplish?!

"It's just too easy for you to give up your dream like that!" Sanji shouted. He didn't know if he could still hear him, but he had to try.

He had to say, even if he was a stupid ogre, Sanji couldn't help but be inspired by Zoro.

His thoughts were interrupted as a white monstrosity jumped forth from the Baratie.

Its scream alone almost sent him to the floor.

It was an unholy abomination! Its only feature seemed to be the terrifying teeth it held in its gaping maw as it continued its agonizingly terrible roar as it rushed for Mihawk.

What on earth was going on?!

* * *

Mihawk looked up to see a white silhouette with teeth rush towards him. It wore the same clothes as the kid that was with Roronoa Zoro.

'A Devil Fruit eater?' He wondered. It was rare for them to be located in the Blues.

Its arm shot towards him, but he dodged. He realized too late that the monster used its arm to reel it in towards him.

It was about to clothesline him, but he stepped to the side. It held too much rage for it to hit hi-

His thoughts were interrupted as he experienced a sudden pressure. He knew this feeling.

Looks like this guy was also more interesting than he had thought.

He watched as it stopped propelling itself when it missed him. It slid along the ground before it turned to face him.

They sat there for a short moment. Mihawk had expected the creature to rush towards him, but it had held itself back.

He wondered what had made him pause.

"Do not worry." He began. The creature looked up at him.

Its eyes were wide open, but Mihawk was used to the feeling it tried to push into him.

"He still lives." A sudden splashing caught the creatures attention. It looked over to see that Johnny and Yosaku had fished Zoro from the water.

Sensing he was no longer threated by the thing, he turned to look at Zoro.

"You have to learn more about the world, and discover your true self." He looked to see that Zoro was paying attention to him.

"You have to become stronger, Roronoa Zoro." Mihawk hoped Zoro would rise from his defeat.

Such potential should not be wasted by something as low as a defeat.

* * *

The devil paused to watch the man in black's speech towards Zoro.

He wanted to smash the man in black, but held himself back.

It was no longer necessary. His friend still lived.

The man turned to face him, "Kid, what is your goal?"

"To become Pirate King." He had stated. It was more than just a goal. It was his dream.

Luffy began to revert. His face returned, but his skin still stayed white.

Even if the threat was gone, it didn't mean he wasn't pissed.

"What a stupid dream." Even though the man's words seemed harsh, he smirked.

"You realize you would have to become stronger than even me?" He told Luffy.

"I don't care." Luffy hissed, "I will become the Pirate King. You'll see."

The man chuckled, but turned as Zoro called to Luffy.

He watched as Zoro pledged to become stronger for the kid's sake. That he would never lose another fight and make him worry again.

Mihawk smiled. It appeared that Zoro was already on the correct path.

"You make a great team." He told the one named Luffy. He began to make his way back to his boat.

He had to stop as Don Kreig had challenged him.

This insect was annoying him.

Don Kreig prepared his arsenal to fire at Mihawk, but he was tired.

He had seen something amazing today and he didn't want it ruined by small fry.

Mihawk slashed the air and cut the water, making waves crash into the remains of the galleon.

He floated away on his boat and began to fall asleep.

Roronoa Zoro...would become great one day, he thought as the world faded away.

* * *

Luffy watched as the chefs tried to defend themselves against the Kreig Pirates by unveiling their greatest weapon.

The Baratie's fish figurehead had come unattached, floating slowly towards its enemies.

Kreig lifted the fish figurehead with one hand and threw it at the Baratie. Luffy thought it was pretty lame.

Ussop had gone ahead with Johnny, Yosaku, and a damaged Zoro to find Nami while Luffy would stay behind and recruit Sanji.

Luffy looked to where they had sailed away. He hoped they headed north.

That way, all he had to do was go where it was colder.

Looking back at the Tiny Fish #1, he saw it was still flying through the air.

Sanji jumped up and kicked it, making it shatter and its two occupants to fall to the Baratie's deck.

Luffy grinned. He didn't know Sanji was strong. That was an extra skill he didn't expect.

Sanji began to take care of the Kreig pirates that had invaded the Baratie. His kicks being too powerful for the pirates to handle.

Then some weirdo showed up exclaiming that he had never bled once from any wound. He showed how smooth and flawless his face skin was.

"I love myself!"

"The hell is wrong with him?" Did everyone have to be such a freak sometimes?

"Better pay attention to yourself, Kid!" Kreig shouted as he threw his morning star at Luffy.

Caught off guard, Luffy was sent flying through the air.

* * *

"This armor can even stand up to a bullet!" Pearl exclaimed, "No matter how much you attack me, you'll never hurt me!"

He blocked one of Sanji's kicks with his forearm shield. He was preparing to unleash a devastating attack that would certainly take care of this blonde chef.

Luffy flew into the back of his head, causing his face to slam into the shield.

Luffy picked himself up. He was really glad that he hadn't fallen in the ocean.

"DANGER! DANGER!" he heard metal bang against metal and he looked up at the skin freak.

Luffy pictured a monkey with cymbals for a brief second. He ignored the screams of fear the Kreig Pirates made.

"I AM IN DANGER...!" The guy suddenly burst into flames.

This guy just can't get any weirder, Luffy thought. This guy was weirder than he was.

"Ultimate Ball of-"

Sanji kicked him as hard as he could in the face.

He fell to the ground. Pearl was stunned.

"Looks like I have to finish him off before he burns the ship down!" Kreig yelled as he sent the morning star headed towards the Baratie's deck. He planned to send everyone into the sea.

"Gum Gum..." Luffy pulled his arms back as he jumped towards the metal ball.

"Bazooka!" His arms came forth, hands turning white as he hit the ball back towards Kreig.

Kreig disappeared behind the metal ball. Luffy looked at Pearl and noticed that he and Sanji had continued their fight.

Pearl's armor had saved him from most of Sanji's attacks, but Sanji still managed to deal heavy damage to Pearl's face.

His once "smooth" face had become covered with welts and blood.

"Sanji! Stop resisting!" Sanji turned to see Gin pointing a gun at Zeff.

Zeff's wooden leg was held by Gin as he put a foot on Zeff's body, forcing him further into the deck.

Sanji recalled the days when he was a child. How Zeff had saved his life.

How Zeff had sacrificed so much for his own pitiful existence.

Sanji turned to face Gin, a murderous look in his eye.

"Gin. Don't you hurt the old man." Sanji didn't move as he gave his threat. If anything had happened...

Pearl began to beat on Sanji. He had become enraged by the damage Sanji had inflicted upon his beautiful body!

Luffy wanted to help, but he was turned away by Sanji. He told Luffy that he owed the old man his life.

Sanji shared the reason why he couldn't let Zeff die as he was beaten by Pearl.

The chefs of the Baratie couldn't help but feel ashamed. They had misjudged Sanji's reasons for staying.

Gin felt his resolve weaken. Sanji had saved his life, and this was how he repaid him? He closed his eyes, but held the gun firmly to Zeff's head.

"Gum Gum...!" Sanji turned to see Luffy's leg stretched far up into the air.

"AXE!" Nobody had much time to react as Luffy's foot came crashing down into the extended porch.

The ocean shook from the impact site. The deck had been demolished and many pirates fell into the water.

"I'm going to destroy this ship." Luffy said aloud as many of the porch's pieces sank into the ocean.

"Didn't you hear my story?! Don't you understand why I've stayed here so long?!" Sanji screamed as he grabbed Luffy's shirt.

Luffy kept an expressionless look on his face as he faced Sanji.

"Just destroy the ship. You'll be able to stop them from doing what they want."

Zeff's smirk went unnoticed. Apparently, the straw hat kid was wiser than he thought.

"You have no idea what this place means to me! I owe too much to Zeff to allow you to destroy this place!"

Luffy broke Sanji's grip on his shirt and hoisted Sanji up.

Sanji found what it was like to be picked up by someone two and a half inches taller than him.

"You can't repay him by dying!" Luffy's warped voice resounded throughout the area.

Memories of people suffering flashed through his mind. Images of self sacrifice as the older patients protected the younger ones.

He remembered how Shanks had sacrificed his arm for a kid who got in over his head.

"He didn't save you for this!" Luffy's skin had turned white, his face remaining human.

"He saved you yet you want to die!" Sanji was in disbelief. The words struck chords within him.

Zeff had tried to repeatedly get him off the ship. Telling him to finally leave the place.

Sanji wondered if he was hurting Zeff by staying. Maybe, Zeff wanted him to liv-

"Both of you, stop fighting!" Pearl began to charge them.

"It's your bad luck that yo-"

Pearl didn't get to finish as a white hand flew into his face, breaking his nose and making a fist imprint in his face.

"You're weak!" Luffy turned to Sanji as he shouted.

That face guy ruined the moment as he saw Sanji's expression change from contemplation into anger.

* * *

Sanji briefly thought that Luffy had actually yelled that at Pearl, but he assumed it was to him.

"What am I supposed to do?!" Sanji had not noticed Gin dropping the gun to the ground.

"Boss!" Gin yelled while he pulled out his mace-tonfas, "Can I take this guy out instead?!"

* * *

Luffy began to get bored as he watched Gin challenge Sanji.

His cool performance was ruined by the face guy.

He looked over to see how he was doing.

Pearl looked as if he had been on the receiving end of a cannon. His face was pretty demolished.

So much for flawless skin.

Gin turned towards him. Luffy decided to pay attention.

"You too, Kid." Luffy was confused.

He wondered what they were talking about before he stopped paying attention.

"It would have been better if you had just left."

"Don't worry." Luffy told Gin with a straight face, "I wouldn't lose to a bunch of weaklings like you."

The Kreig Pirates were infuriated that this snot nose kid presumed they were weak.

They told him about their strength and how they were the most powerful pirates in East Blue.

"You're only the strongest cause you have the most people." Luffy commented from the sidelines.

Luffy watched as they became stunned.

He sighed. Looks like they were a bunch of idiots.

"How sad." Luffy turned towards the voice.

"Getting frustrated at being called weak. That just means you are weak."

He saw Don Kreig sitting on a piece of the destroyed porch.

Luffy had forgotten that his guy even existed.

"Hey, Kid." He continued, "Between me and you, who do you think is the greatest?"

"Me." Luffy didn't know where this guy was going, but he must have hit his head on something.

It was obvious that he would be Pirate King.

"Is that so?" Don Kreig smirked as he brought out some sort of launcher/shield.

The Kreig Pirates began to freak out.

They kept saying something about MH-5, but Luffy wasn't concerned.

If it was a cannonball, he could just launch it back.

Kreig ignored his allies' pleas as he launched the gas pellet towards the Baratie.

Luffy jumped towards it, about to reflect it back.

The pellet exploded, sending shuriken throughout the area.

Luffy had been impaled by some of them as he landed back on the Baratie's ruined porch.

"Hahaha! You think I would use the poison on yo-"

A fist smashed against his armor, cracking it.

The air had been knocked out of him as he took a few steps back.

"Ah, you got me that time." Luffy said calmly as his hand returned to him.

Kreig's face formed a sneer.

* * *

"Gin!" Kreig shouted, "You take care of your business. I'll take the brat."

"Thank you, Boss." Gin rushed towards Sanji.

Sanji attempted to sweep Gin's legs with a leg sweep, but Gin jumped and twisted in the air.

"I used to be known as a "Demon", Sanji!"

Sanji didn't stand a chance. Gin had already trapped him by slamming his tonfa into Sanji's neck and forced him to the ground.

Gin raised his other hand, preparing to crush Sanji's head with his other tonfa.

Sanji forced Gin off of him by kicking him in the head, sending him flying off of him.

Gin recovered in the air and landed on his feet. The fight had just begun, but observers could tell Sanji was injured from Pearl's attacks.

* * *

Luffy watched as they fought. Too bad he couldn't invite Gin. He seemed pretty good.

Spikes suddenly shot into Luffy as he was distracted.

Don Kreig smiled. He believed the brat to have died from his attack as he watched Luffy stand still.

Luffy looked up. His face had transformed and he gave a predatory grin at Kreig.

Kreig couldn't help but feel scared. He had felt this aura before.

He felt the same thing after they had disturbed Mihawk's nap.

"Sanji!" the chefs of the Baratie were screaming Sanji's name in fear.

Luffy turned towards the area where he had last seen Sanji fighting with Gin.

Gin had already defeated him. He stood over with his tonfas, preparing to smash his head in.

He slowly started to twist one of his tonfas in a circle, building up momentum.

Slits formed on Luffy's face. He was preparing to intervene.

"I can't do it, Captain Kreig!" Gin cried as he dropped his tonfas. The one he had been twisting flew off into the ocean.

He began to plead with Kreig to spare the ship, to just go away and to never return.

* * *

Kreig was disgusted. He couldn't believe that Gin, his battle commander, would betray him like this!

He readied the MH-5. Kreig wanted them to suffer before they died. He ordered Gin to throw away his mask.

Gin did as he was told. He was loyal until the end.

Luffy looked worried. His face had returned to normal after witnessing Gin's mercy.

He decided that Gin was a good person, but he just followed the wrong man.

Luffy searched the area for gas masks. He didn't understand how they worked, but he knew they were important.

He saw two of Kreig's men in the ocean. They had masks on.

Luffy ripped the masks off their faces, not realizing that he had broken the straps.

He threw them over to Gin and Sanji.

Luffy looked at his empty hands and realized that he had no mask.

"Oh crap!" He cried as the pellet exploded near him, covering him with purple smoke.

He wished he had used Gum Gum Balloon before it exploded.

* * *

Gin couldn't understand what was happening. He had seen the straw hat kid throw two masks his way, but something had happened.

Gin found himself with a mask stuck to his face.

Flailing around, he couldn't get it to come off! It was held to his face like glue!

He panicked. Gin wanted to save Sanji, but he wasn't even able to get this cursed mask off him!

Disobeying orders was a sin! He shouldn't be alive!

But it didn't matter how hard he had struggled. The mask was stuck to his face as the gas cleared away.

* * *

Luffy was surprised to find a mask had come out of nowhere and smacked him in the face.

He was glad though. He couldn't hold his breath any longer and the mask arrived in time!

It held fast to his face though and he couldn't move his head off the ground.

As the gas cleared, he could hear Kreig boast about disobedient soldiers.

Luffy began to transform. He was tired of men like Kreig.

All Luffy understood was that Kreig had tried to kill a man so loyal to him that he had willingly threw away his mask so he would be poisoned.

Anger coursed through Luffy. He saw the gas clear away.

Time to make him hurt.

* * *

Kreig laughed. Before the pellet went off near the pesky straw hat boy, he had seen Gin try to give one of the masks to Sanji, but was unable to.

The stupid fool had tripped! He deserved this punishment!

The gas cleared from the area. He was going to enjoy seeing their dead bodies.

A hand shot out of the gas, surprising Kreig.

He didn't expect the rubberman to be alive!

The hand grabbed his shoulder, he could feel it pulling on him.

"Gum Gum Rocket!" the monstrous Luffy flew into his cracked armor, breaking it into pieces.

Kreig tried to shout but couldn't as his voice was caught in his throat.

Terror like nothing he had ever known rushed through his body. Many of his men began to pass out as well as some cooks.

Luffy raised his head from Kreig's gut and he stared deep into the darkness Luffy's eyes had become.

Kreig's mind went blank as it shut down. He had been overwhelmed by the force behind them.

Foam escaped from his mouth

With a roar, Luffy shoved one of his arms out and punched Kreig in the stomach, making him fly above the ocean, his arm still connected to Kreig.

He cocked his other fist back as he pulled Kreig back to him.

Kreig was lucky that his mind had been broken before Luffy's attack reached his body.

Luffy's fist smashed into Kreig's face as he flew by, breaking his neck and face.

All the gas had cleared from the area, allowing the spectators the sight of Luffy defeating Kreig.

Gin couldn't help but cry for his captain. Though he had tried to kill him, he was still his captain!

* * *

Miss All Sunday frowned.

Things did not go as she expected.

She slowly drifted away on Banchi as the Baratie faded into the night.

A smile formed as she remembered the aftermath of the fighting.

The Kreig Pirates were no more. Don Kreig had met his end at the hands of the rubberman, Luffy.

With the Kreig Pirates disbanded, Gin set off on his own, promising to meet Sanji again on the Grand Line.

Sanji had enthused about his dream to Luffy, who had listened with rapt attention.

The chefs had given their goodbye's to Sanji, who had cried out that he would find All-Blue to Red Leg Zeff.

She saw the tears they had all shed as Sanji left. The whole scene was sweet.

Miss All Sunday began to sort out what had happened so far.

She wondered first about the Goa Facility.

The information about it may have been old, but her employer was sure that it was still there.

Only burnt earth remained. The ground appeared barren, as if life dared not grow in the area.

Crocodile wouldn't be pleased, and that meant somebody had to die.

The Facilities themselves were part of the World Government, though she could not say what purpose they served other than that they studied the effects of Devil Fruits and their users.

She shivered slighty as she recalled the time she was imprisoned within one.

They had experimented on her Hana Hana Fruit in various ways. None of them pleasant.

It was lucky that Crocodile had decided to liberate these Facilities so he could recruit the patients within, or else she could have been in a far worse situation.

She was able to rise through the ranks due not only to her Devil Fruit, but because she was useful in many ways.

Disgust replaced the small amount of fear she had felt. She needed to survive. Nothing else mattered.

She paused to rid herself of the feeling.

Miss All Sunday continued her musings.

As she headed back to the Grand Line, she decided to see if Buggy the Clown was of any interest.

Information had revealed that he had a powerful Devil Fruit. It was a disappointment to learn that he rejected its existence, but it led her to Luffy.

Luffy was unique. His devil had manifested itself in an extreme manner. In a way that she had never seen before.

It wasn't just his Devil Fruit that made him interesting though.

He seemed to care deeply about his friends. To some extent, he cared about his enemies and absolute strangers.

Luffy believed in the strangest ideals.

Ideals that had appealed greatly to her.

Ideals that led her to save the three from the gas.

The pirates shouldn't have stayed close to the porch. Someone could just yank their mask off if they weren't careful.

She looked over to the boat attached to Banchi.

Snoring could be heard from the cabin. The ship was a gift from the Baratie.

Miss All Sunday remembered the look Luffy had given her when she offered to take him to where Nami was.

She couldn't suppress the small laugh that left her lips.

Things had gotten a bit more interesting. She wondered what Luffy would show her next.

* * *

**Alright! Here's the Baratie arc! **

**I have to say, I'm not that proud of the chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it!**


	6. An End to the Waking Nightmare

**Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy! Please let me know what you think!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

"I want meat!" "I'll take some coffee, Cook-san."

Sanji took their orders and moved to the kitchen. It was the afternoon of the day after they left the Baratie.

Miss All Sunday sat on her chair atop Banchi as she gave her order to Sanji.

Luffy was excited! They were heading over to where Nami was to get the Going Merry back and they could go to the Grand Line!

Sanji twirled while he started brewing the coffee with hearts in his eyes.

He was traveling on the high seas with a black haired beauty! His dreams were already coming true!

He frowned a bit when he heard Luffy's laughter. It was almost perfect aside from the rubberman.

Luffy grinned widely as he watched the turtle named Banchi swim. It was a really cool turtle!

He just realized he didn't know where they were headed off to.

"Hey, lady!" he called out as he turned to face her, "Why do you know where Nami is?"

She met his expectant gaze.

"I've been watching you and your friends for a while. I saw her pick up a poster of a certain man named Arlong who frequents the Conomi Islands. It seems he's starting to stir up trouble again."

Arlong had been a potential recruit. He had enough strength and intelligence to be single digit agent.

Reports indicated that he hated humans with a passion, as their messenger barely survived the encounter with him, relaying Arlong's refusal to the Baroque Works.

"Oh?! Really?!" his face changed to a thoughtful expression, "But I never saw you around. How'd you know she said that or what poster she looked at?"

Luffy was being much more inquisitive than she had expected.

Maybe it was because he relied on her to lead him to Nami?

"I can't give away my secrets." she gave him a small smile, "Or else I wouldn't be able to do it anymore."

"Oh well." Luffy knew the importance of secrets. If she didn't want to tell him, she wouldn't.

"What's the deal with this Arbong guy? Why'd Nami get scared of him?"

"Miss All Beautiful Sunday!"

Sanji burst forth from the kitchen, jumping on top of Banchi as he handed her the coffee.

"Here is your coffee, madamoiselle."

"Thank you."

"Hey! Sanji! Where's my meat!?" Luffy called out while he watched the display.

Sanji was so energetic!

"Just wait for it, Luffy!" Sanji yelled back, "It's almost ready!"

He had made the mistake of letting Luffy into the kitchen earlier in the morning.

Sanji was devastated as Luffy had eaten most of their food.

Luffy pouted. He missed being able to eat raw meat.

"Don't worry, Cook-san. The Conomi Islands are not far."

"Oh! Such a talented young lady!" Sanji began to praise Miss All Sunday, "You're able to navigate the seas all by yourself?"

"It was one of many skills I had to learn over the years." Sanji was kind, though she didn't like the look in his eye.

And it disturbed her on how close he tried to get.

She turned back to Luffy, "Arlong was said to have been put here by one of the Shikibukai, Jinbei."

Luffy had a confused look. The word was a bit too long for him, "Shikibukai?"

Miss All Sunday widened her eyes just a bit.

"You don't know?" she asked, wondering how much Luffy knew about the Grand Line.

"They're the seven warlords of the sea. They're employed by the government to be "legal pirates"." she also told them of what a Shikibukai's duties were.

She thought of Crocodile and his current scheme. If only the World Government knew...

"Oh?! Really?! That sounds pretty interesting!" Luffy laughed, and she couldn't help but let loose a small giggle.

His cheerfulness was infectious. It seemed that Luffy was excited by the smallest things.

"Oh! Such a melodious tune!" Sanji swooned. Being a pirate was great!

"The Shikibukai in question, Jinbei, is a merman and so is Arlong." she continued.

"Fishman?" Luffy began to imagine what one would look like.

Sanji did as well, but he began to shake with excitement! He heard that mermaids were on the Grand Line.

Sanji couldn't believe how much fun he was already having! He couldn't wait to meet a mermaid!

"Does this look like a fishman?" a drawing of a weird fish with arms was presented to Miss All Sunday and Sanji via Luffy's stretched arm.

She couldn't help but giggle a little more. This was too much for her as she viewed Luffy's horrifying drawing.

Sanji laughed. The picture was more fish than mermaid! Luffy really couldn't draw.

"I believe the reason why your navigator left has something to do with Arlong." she mentioned as she sipped her coffee,

Cook-san might have been a bit lecherous, but he made great coffee.

Luffy's arm returned to him. He turned the paper to the side, scribbled on it, and presented it once more.

"Is this better?" He had just turned the paper to the side, drew legs on the fish he had showed them.

"A little." Miss All Sunday said. It could very well be some sort of fishman. It wasn't impossible.

"Hey, you think Nami herself might be a mermaid?" Sanji ignored Luffy's picture as he began to imagine Nami's beautiful figure with a fish tail. He certainly hoped it was true!

"Um, like this?" Luffy had drawn Nami's hair on his ugly fishman.

"You bastard! Don't show me that!" Sanji kicked the disgusting thing away from him. Luffy was ruining his fantasy!

Sanji's internal clocked sounded an alarm.

He got up and headed for the kitchen. Luffy's meat was ready.

Banchi suddenly stopped and looked around.

Miss All Sunday began to frown as she wondered what was wrong.

"Woah! Look at that cow!"

She turned to see what Luffy was talking about.

After pausing to examine the creature she added, "Indeed. It's quite big."

An enormous sea cow was towering over their ship and turtle. Drool fell from its mouth.

It had caught them by surprise, though Miss All Sunday wondered why she didn't notice it before.

'Maybe it was the coffee?' she wondered. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to drug her.

But the chef wouldn't do that, he appeared to love women far too much and was too honorable to drug her drink.

Looking over at Luffy, she saw him attempt to draw the sea cow.

She stared blankly at him for a moment as she realized she was too occupied with being amused by his terrible drawings to have noticed.

Miss All Sunday felt like she was getting soft. She was being influenced too much by Luffy.

"Woah, look at the size of that thing." Sanji said as he came out of the kitchen, Luffy's meat in hand.

He held another plate with some meat on it as well. Sanji decided to join Luffy.

Apparently, the cow desired some of it as well. It put its head up to Sanji with its mouth open.

"Oh? You're hungry?"

"It's cute." He heard Miss All Sunday comment as she observed the creature.

He began to smile with a heart in his eye as he imagined her swooning over him as he fed the animal.

"Here you go, cow." Sanji said as he held out his plate. He hoped she would be impressed!

The cow bit down on his hand as it tried to consume the meat.

* * *

"Fufufufu. He's pretty scared." Miss All Sunday giggled. The cow had been beaten up by Sanji and Luffy.

Sanji hit the cow because it tried to eat his arm. Luffy hit it because it was eating **his** meat.

"It looks like we don't have to worry about speed anymore." Sanji said as he watched Banchi get pulled along by the sea cow.

The turtle maintained his lazy looking eyes. His expression unchanged even when the sea cow had arrived.

Its strange cigarette still in his mouth.

Even now, it seemed to not notice being pulled by the much bigger cow.

After some time had passed, the group could see land in the distance.

"What a strange looking place." Miss All Sunday said as Arlong Park came into view.

"Do you think Nami is there?" Luffy asked her.

She crossed her arms.

"Let me check." She silently formed an eye when she could to see what was ahead.

She was interrupted as Banchi and their ship flew through the air.

Sanji did as much as he could to ensure Miss All Sunday's safe landing.

He saw Luffy fall underneath the boat and the turtle.

Sanji wondered if it was a skill of his to get in the most trouble possible.

"Hey, what the he-?!" he heard a stupid shitty voice scream out as they landed.

* * *

Zoro had just been trying to find Arlong Park when all of a sudden, a turtle and a ship landed on him.

He tried to breathe, but he was being crushed by the weight.

Oddly enough, he didn't feel anything hard. Instead, it felt...rubbery?

He turned his head as much as he could.

Zoro was greeted the smashed looking face of Luffy.

Luffy sputtered as he tried to say hello to Zoro.

The ship and the turtle suddenly shifted to the side, as if a massive force had shoved them away.

There was no way in hell Zoro would go through that ever again if he could help it.

* * *

"Are you alright, Miss?" Sanji asked Miss All Sunday as he held her bridal style in his arms.

She stayed quiet and just stared at him.

Sanji felt something grab his head and arms as she put her feet to the ground.

"I am fine, Cook-san."

The mysterious force disappeared as she walked away.

He couldn't help but feel that she had gotten embarrassed, and began to fantasize.

* * *

Miss All Sunday looked to see that Banchi had righted himself and waited for direction.

She told him to go to wait in the water while she began to look around.

Roronoa Zoro was picking Luffy off of the ground.

His face was stretched comically when he had become wedged between the boat and Zoro.

Cook-san had a weird look on his face as he writhed around.

One of the bounty hunters was starting to run up to them. Miss All Sunday decided that it would be a good time to leave as she boarded Banchi and set off.

* * *

"It's a bad idea! She's a murderer!" Johnny had found the Straw Hat Pirates and told them of what he saw.

He told them that Nami had killed Ussop in cold blood. That they were nothing but tools for her to use to get even more money.

Luffy closed his eyes. He didn't want to believe his words.

From what he had seen, there was more to Nami than just money.

"Let's just get out of here before Arlong finds us!" Johnny pleaded. They couldn't stand up to the mermen!

He had seen the devastation they had wrought and they never even had to use their gigantic monster!

Zoro looked over at Luffy, who for once, had a contemplative look across his face while his eyes were closed.

He had already told him that Nami had saved him from drowning when he first encountered the Arlong Pirates.

Whatever his captain decided to do, he would follow. Even if it was to save a witch from the sea freaks.

Before Luffy could decide on anything Nami showed up, her hands stained with blood.

"Nami! Do you remember me?!" Sanji had picked himself off the ground where he had been writhing in his fantasies, "It's me! Sanji! Let's travel the seas together!"

"Shut up, Dartbrow! Don't make the situation worse!" Zoro shouted at Sanji.

Zoro could hear Johnny shout insults at Nami, but he didn't pay too much attention as he got into an argument with Sanji.

"Oh? It's you. Ever since you lost that fight so shamefully on the Baratie, you've become high strung."

"What did you say?!"

Nami told Luffy that since Zoro had killed a bunch of the mermen, Arlong was out for his blood.

"You heard me, Moss Head!"

She said that their little gang might have been a bit demonic, but Arlong and his crew were the real demons.

"Do you want to die?!"

She told him how they should just leave and never come back. That they had only used her because of her navigational abilities.

"Stop fighting you two!" Johnny shouted at them. They weren't paying any attention at all!

Nami told Luffy they were never friends and she only used them to get money.

Nami looked to see if her words had any impact on Luffy, who just continued to stand there looking at her.

* * *

"I'm tired." He yawned, "I think I'll take a nap."

He fell onto his back and laid there.

Her eyes widened.

"Stop playing around!" She screamed at Luffy, "You will get killed!"

He didn't care as he fell asleep.

* * *

Zoro and Sanji were just sitting around near Luffy as he slept.

Nami had left in a furious state. She didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore.

Sanji had cried a bit, but couldn't help but think Nami looked cute when she was angry.

He looked around for Miss All Sunday. She was long gone.

Sanji hung his head. All the beautiful women had left and the only one around w-

"Nami might be small." Zoro mused aloud, "But she's really strong. Maybe she really did kill Ussop?"

"Nami-chan's breasts are not small!" Sanji yelled as he flung his foot towards Zoro's head.

How dare he insult her beautiful body!

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Zoro moved to block the kick with sheath, "Do you only think of dirty things?!"

The kick connected, while the sheath had blocked the attack.

Ussop's face had been caught in the middle of the two warriors.

They started to sweat as Ussop's face contorted into a painful shape.

"I'm alive..." Ussop began, his voice strained as pain overwhelmed him, "...But I think I'll really die now..."

* * *

"Ussop! Nami did this to you?!"

Sanji and Zoro continued to sweat in the background as Luffy held Ussop's broken form.

He hadn't woken up from the assault yet.

"Luffy?" Ussop managed to open one eyelid, his voice weak, "You're here too...?"

"I'm also here. Hi!" Sanji waved at him.

"You bastards!" Ussop screamed as life returned to him, "I'll kill you one day!"

After Ussop had finished cursing Zoro and Sanji, he began to tell them about how Nami had protected him by stabbing her own hand instead of him.

He told them the Arlong Pirates had tossed his body into the sea and he swam away.

"So, Nami didn't betray us?" Luffy asked, hope evident in his voice. He knew Nami was good!

"No, if anything, she wants to protect us!"

"That's great! Let's go get her now!"

"I'm afraid that's not possible." a womanly voice was heard as someone approached.

Nojiko, Nami's sister, had come to tell them about Nami's past so they could understand what the situation was.

Sanji swooned. He loved being a pirate! He got to meet so many wonderful ladies!

"I don't want to hear about that." Luffy said as he walked away.

"What-? Why not?" Nojiko thought these people were Nami's friends?

"Don't worry about him. You can tell us." Zoro told her as he smiled at his captain.

He understood why Luffy didn't want to hear it.

"What the hell?!" Sanji started to yell, "You say that but why did you fall asleep?!"

Zoro had passed out after he told Nojiko to tell them.

His reasons were the same as Luffy's. Nothing would change if they were to hear her past.

* * *

Luffy continued to walk towards the village when he heard noises.

"We will fight!"

People were beginning to congregate. Seemed like something exciting was going to happen.

They were all yelling about rebellion against some Ardong guy. He didn't care too much.

This didn't involve him. He didn't even know who Ardong was, but it seemed he was going to get his ass kicked.

The crowd rushed by him as he continued on.

He noticed that some of them were crying.

This one scarred man had passed him who's hand bled from a wound. He was trying to hold back his tears as he moved onwards.

Luffy heard Nami screaming. He walked towards the noise and saw her stabbing herself.

* * *

Nami couldn't hold back her tears as she continued to tear away at her arm.

'This mark! This horrible mark!' She thought as memories of Arlong tormenting her blinded her to reason.

All of the villagers...her family...they were going to Arlong to fight a losing battle.

They were going to go fight for her life.

Just like Bellemere...

Nami felt like she was going to snap, she just couldn't take it anymore.

Her hand was forced to stay in place as she tried to bring it down into her arm again.

Something had stopped her. She stopped screaming and turned to see who had dared interrupt the removal of the tainted tatoo on her arm.

Luffy stood with the knife in his grip. He removed the knife from her hand as he stared down at her.

"What is it?! What do you want, Luffy?!" she cried.

She couldn't help but remember how he had showed kindness to people during her short journey with her. He was different from the other pirates.

He stood there in silence, his eyes watching her every move.

"You don't know anything about his place, Luffy! This doesn't involve you!"

"You're right. I don't know anything."

He had ignored the second comment.

"This isn't any of your business!" she tossed dirt at him in a feeble attempt to drive him away.

"I told you to leave the island!"

"Yeah, you did tell me that." Luffy said his voice emotionless as he listed facts.

"Luffy..." she turned towards him. She wore a pained look on her face as tears ran down her cheeks.

Her tears hurt him.

"Help me..." her voice was no louder than a whisper as she pleaded with him.

He took his hat off and placed it on her head.

He wanted to stop whatever was hurting his navigator. His friend.

Luffy took a few steps forward before taking a deep breath.

"OF COURSE I'll HELP YOU!" his warped voice strongly resounded throughout the town.

The area vibrated from the power of his voice.

Nami remembered how he had told her his hat was his most sacred treasure.

How only his friends could touch it.

A different kind of tears began to fall from her eyes.

Luffy walked towards Arlong Park. His crew was already a few feet away, waiting for Luffy.

"Let's go." Luffy was going to destroy whatever had made Nami cry.

"Alright!" Zoro, Sanji, and Ussop exclaimed. Their mood one with their captain's.

Nami put a hand to her mouth to try to stifle her cries.

She hadn't felt so happy in such a long time, she didn't believe she would ever feel this way again.

* * *

Miss All Sunday was in shock.

The emotion Luffy had showed her was too much to bear.

She knew how strong he was. Sensing how much power someone had was part of the ability granted to her by Luffy's devil.

That meant she knew how strong Arlong was as well.

Even a monster like Luffy would have a bit of trouble dealing with him, but he continued onwards unflinchingly.

She held a hand to her chest pain crept into her heart.

Luffy's attitude, his selflessness, his sacrifice.

And his friends that would follow him into hell, just because they knew he would do the same.

She wanted to belong, but she couldn't. She had debts to repay and it wasn't safe for her to be with them.

'The World Government would destroy them', she thought. A single tear fell down her cheek.

Her darkness would consume their light, and she just couldn't let that happen.

Robin turned away, but couldn't bear to leave.

She wanted to stay until the end.

* * *

Johnny and Yosaku felt horrible.

And it wasn't from the many injuries they had sustained from challenging the Arlong Pirates.

When they had arrived, they immediately suspected Nami to be a traitor.

They had called her a vicious witch.

Yosaku had wanted to go get Luffy to beat up Arlong, but had no way of crossing the ocean.

Ussop had joked that he should try riding a shark, but that was suicide.

Didn't mean he didn't try it. He had a whole new set of scars already forming from the shark's teeth.

Johnny had tried to convince the other Straw Hats that Nami was evil, but they didn't listen.

They were right not to. Johnny and Yosaku learned about Nami's tragic past and how she tried to protect the Straw Hats from Arlong.

Sitting in front of the gate leading to Arlong Park, they awaited the arrival of the Straw Hats.

They tried to atone for accusing Nami of being a traitor by stopping the villagers. These guys were too weak.

They looked into the distance, seeing four figures walking towards them. They grinned.

If anyone could beat Arlong, it was them.

* * *

Arlong sat in his lawn chair, wondering how he should kill Zoro.

He had hurt his men, and so he would pay dearly.

At least he had some fun beating up the two idiots that had challenged him. He briefly wondered if he should kill them.

Arlong grinned, it was far better to play with your prey before devouring it. He would go after them the next day.

He heard a commotion outside. It sounded like the villagers had come to ask him for something?

Maybe it was time for another tribute.

The gate flew across the area, smashing into a few Arlong Pirates and crushing them between the wall it had flung to.

All eyes focused on a white skinned man as he walked into Arlong Park.

* * *

"Which one of you is Arlong?"

"That's me." a stupid looking blue man with a nose weirder than Ussop's replied.

Luffy began to walk towards him.

"My name is Luffy."

"Oh, you're Luffy? Nami told me so much about you." she had screamed his name when he had held her down during the night she returned, "Who're you supposed to be anyway?"

She had called for him to help her.

He grinned. It was only fitting he had Nezumi take her treasure away. She belonged only to him.

"I'm a pirate." Luffy said as he got closer. Arlong noticed his voice sounded weird. Like he was almost talking underwater.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" "You're not supposed to be here."

Two Arlong Pirates moved in Luffy's way. They were going to stop this asshole. He couldn't just do as he pleased in Arlong Park.

Humans were supposed to follow the mermen's commands.

"Get out of my way." Luffy's eyes glowed dark as he looked at the two.

They dropped to the ground, their mouth's foaming as they did so.

The Arlong Pirates looked on in surprise. They didn't even see the guy move!

"What does a pirate need from me?" Arlong asked. He didn't really care. This trash was going to pay.

Luffy didn't answer him as his fist connected with Arlong's face.

Arlong went flying into the wall, next to where the gate had flown. Smoke obscured the area he had landed in.

The rest of the Arlong Pirates looked on in rage. This guy wished for death, it seemed.

Luffy's eyes began to glow. He wasn't even getting started.

"Don't you dare make my navigator cry!" Luffy's sneered at Arlong, who had cleared the dust away.

A fist mark was imprinted on his face.

The Arlong Pirates began to charge the red-vested man, but they were stopped as a flurry of kicks and three swords cut the group down.

"Why'd you run off by yourself?" Sanji felt a little jealous. He thought Luffy looked really cool when he made Nami cheer up.

"I always win." Luffy moved the fingers on one hand into a fist, knuckles cracking as he did so.

"Never fear, Ussop is here!" Ussop called out. He wanted to look cool too!

"Oh? That was really good." Zoro mocked Ussop as he drew his swords.

It was about time his captain decided to do something. Zoro was getting bored.

* * *

The water began to rise as Hatchan called his pet monster to destroy the Straw Hats.

"Oh, so you were a fishman?"

Mohmoo began to sweat. The voice was too familiar.

He moved his eyes to look at Sanji and Luffy.

Luffy gave it a award winning smile, not knowing his teeth had turned into daggers.

Mohmoo swam towards the exit as fast as he could. He didn't want to face these two again!

"Mohmoo!" Mohmoo stopped as Arlong called out to him.

"You can run away, but know that I'll find you."

Mohmoo panicked. He couldn't see a way out! The world began to spin!

Mohmoo snapped, his mind broke into little pieces as he attacked the Straw Hats.

"Hey guys." Luffy began to wind his body up, "I think you should duck."

The other Straw Hats obliged as Luffy grabbed Mohmoo's horns and began to swing him around.

"Gum Gum Windmill!"

The attack devastated the weaker members of the Arlong Pirates, the only ones that had remained were Chew, Hatchan, Kurobi, and Arlong.

"Hey, Luffy?! Were you trying to kill us?!" "Oh? That worked pretty well." "Where'd you learn that, Luffy?!"

Luffy only acknowledged the last question. "I don't know" he said as he continued to stare at Arlong.

He remembered the scarred man and how his eyes were filled with determination, his pinwheel spinning proudly atop his hat.

Luffy wondered who he was, but he looked pretty cool. His scars were pretty massive.

"Jet Ink!"

The Straw Hats dodged the black liquid that Hatchan had sprayed over the ground.

Arlong rushed towards Luffy, fist ready to launch him into the water.

Humans were already weak in the water, Devil Fruit eaters were even weaker.

Luffy dodged Arlong's attack and jumped some distance away.

As Luffy prepared to attack, he slipped on the ink as he landed and fell into the water.

* * *

Zoro frowned as he saw this. Luffy was too focused on killing Arlong that he didn't notice his surroundings.

Hatchan rushed at him with six swords, one in each of the octopus merman's hands.

He grinned, he hoped mermen were as strong as people say. He blocked his swords and prepared to attack.

* * *

"Egg Star!" Chew had been caught off guard as a rotten egg flew into his face.

'Oh gods! What is this?!' he thought as he clutched his eyes in pain. He didn't expect this!

* * *

"Jeez, I have to follow the craziest captain in the world!" Sanji said aloud as drop kicked Kurobi in the face.

The guy had just slipped and fell into the one thing he was weak against!

Kurobi took a few steps back as he tried to compose himself. The blonde guy in black was strong!

* * *

Arlong was pissed. This "Luffy"'s punch was still hurting. He would pay for that.

He looked in the water and grinned. He would pay dearly.

"Shark ON Darts!" He charged towards the water.

Zoro, Sanji, and Ussop looked on in varying degrees of fear as they remembered mermen were stronger in the water.

"Gum Gum...!" Luffy leaped out of the water, surprising Arlong.

He was supposed to be a hammer! How could he jump out?!

None of the Straw Hats had noticed Sanji flying into the water after being hit by Kurobi's Hyakumaigawara Seiken.

"...Net!" Luffy's fingers trapped Arlong in his grasp. He tightened his fingers, compacting Arlong within.

Luffy did a few somersaults and flung Arlong into his house.

White skin had covered his body, his eyes were black, and his teeth were daggers. He maintained his face though as he stared at the hole Arlong had made when he threw him.

He didn't want to end this quickly. Arlong needed to suffer.

* * *

"Tatsumaki!"

Hatchan went flying through the air as he was cut repeatedly. One of his arms seemed to fall off.

Zoro panted as his bandana fell off. He sheathed his swords.

Hatchan wasn't particularly a great swordsman, but Zoro's wounds had hindered him enough that he was on par with Hatchan.

He looked over at Curly Brow to see how he was doing.

"Collier!" Sanji's foot slammed into Kurobi's neck, making him hit the ground with enough force to make him bounce a few inches.

"Épaule!" His foot was forced into Kurobi's shoulder, making him bounce even further into the air.

"Côtelette! Selle!"Sanji dropped to a handstand. He swung his leg so it would not only land in Kurobi's upper spine as he used the momentum to kick him the lower back as well with his other leg.

"Poitrine!" Kurobi's body had begun to indent the ground as Sanji kicked him further into it.

Kurobi's legs and arms hung in the air as he laid on the ground.

"Gigot!" Sanji kicked his legs causing him to backflip from the ground into a kneeling postion.

He tried moving, but he could not as his spine was broken.

"You said I couldn't protect anything, huh ?!" Sanji appeared to have been damaged quite a bit. He had been forced into the water when he underestimated the strength of a fishman under the sea.

The merman had mocked him for trying to protect Nami.

Kurobi attempted to say something, but was unable to as a foot mark was imprinted on his throat.

Sanji recalled how Nami had cried for them to help her.

"Mouton..." Sanji jumped towards Kurobi who had his hands held to his throat.

"...Shot!"

Kurobi went flying through the Arlong house, coming out of the other side.

His eyes were rolled into the back of his head. He lay there unmoving.

Zoro smirked. Maybe the chef had some bite after all.

He turned to Ussop.

"Ussop Hammer!"

Zoro couldn't stop the sweat drop roll down his cheek as he watched a hammer land on the big-lipped merman's toes.

* * *

Chew was beyond mad. This kid had shot him in the eyes with the foulest smelling gunk.

He heard the kid yell and felt his toes scream in pain.

Chew jumped on his other foot for a second, but opened his eyes. He was going to ma-

"Ussop Rubberband!"

He had to quickly close his eyes! He couldn't let the kid blind him!

After waiting a few seconds, he realized that nothing had happened.

A glass bottle smacked Chew's head.

He opened his eyes to see the kid holding a glass bottle of rum. The kid seemed to be scared.

The kid threw the bottle at his face, but he caught it.

"Ussop's Exploding Star!"

Chew was engulfed by flames as the rum helped ignite him.

Water! He needed water! Chew thought as he ran towards the pool in front of the Arlong house.

"Ussop...!" He briefly turned to see a hammer about to collide with his face.

"...Hammer!" Chew's vision went dark as he hit the ground.

He reached for the pool. If only he could make it...

"Hammer! Hammer! Hammer!" Ussop repeatedly bashed Chew with the hammer.

Chew managed to get some blood in his mouth. He opened his eyes as he prepared to fire at the kid that dared do this to him!

"Ussop Rubberband!" Chew couldn't help but close his eyes due to reflex.

"Hammer, Hammer, Hammer!"

The kid...was stronger than he looked...

* * *

Ussop stood victorious over the merman he had defeated.

"I am the great Ussop! I am a brave warrior of the sea!" he panted as he shouted.

He had felt much fear during the ordeal, but now it was over! He had beaten his first opponent!

The fear came back as he heard Arlong roar in pain.

* * *

The Cocoyashi villagers couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Arlong Park's top fighters were being brought down by Nami's friends.

Years of abuse and terror were being brought down in less than a hour.

Genzo held from shouting in happiness. Even if the Straw Hat's failed, they had done much more than he would have been able to do.

Gratitude filled him as he thought that Nami had finally found good friends to help her.

* * *

After Luffy had sent Arlong flying into his house, it didn't take long for him to come out.

With great speed, a massive mouth seemed to fly towards Luffy, grazing him as he moved to the side.

Luffy had been hit by Arlong's "Shark ON Tooth" and now had a massive hole in his side.

Arlong grinned at him, his eyes already bloodshot.

He had entered his feeding frenzy when he tasted Luffy's blood.

"Shark ON Darts!" he announced as he shot towards the bleeding Luffy.

Luffy was on his knees as Arlong approached. He fell to his side to dodge Arlong and grabbed his leg.

He waited for Arlong to fly a few feet before he pulled, sending Arlong headed for the ground in an arc.

The ground now had a crater, but Arlong was already up.

He stood before Luffy's kneeling form and lifted him up.

That changed as Luffy bit deeply into his arm.

Arlong roared in pain and dropped Luffy who brought his hands back a few feet.

With a monstrous growl, Luffy Bazooka'ed Arlong back into his house.

Luffy dropped to one knee. The blood loss was beginning to affect him.

His face was replaced by the demon's. Teeth being the only feature he had.

Luffy waited for any movement. A moment passed by.

Arlong threw his Kiribachi, a sword that looked like it had teeth on one side, outside.

It barely missed Luffy as he struggled to get up.

Those teeth were really sharp, he mused quietly.

His anger was being replaced by numbness as his vision began to blur.

He saw Arlong appear before him, the Kiribachi in hand.

It was weird, he could hear Nami as well.

He heard Arlong say something about her being his forever. To work for him. To be his "partner".

Slits formed on his face as they continued to talk.

He could hear Nami's voice as it quivered when she asked everyone to fight with her.

Arlong huffed and grabbed him by the throat and brought him closer to his teeth.

Luffy felt the bite and began to thrash. He didn't want to be eaten! He did the eating!

One of his hands brushed by Arlong's nose and he grabbed it. His enhanced strength crushing and breaking it.

Arlong screamed as he let Luffy go. His unbreakable nose had been broken!

He felt Luffy uppercut him into his house, Luffy's arm stretching with him.

Luffy's arm grabbed his shoulder and began to squeeze.

Immense pain coursed through the area as Luffy broke his shoulder. The Kiribachi had been dropped to the ground.

He didn't have much time to think as Luffy rocketed into his gut, sending him to the floor.

Arlong was expecting further attacks, so he leaped to the side, grabbing the Kiribachi as he did so.

"What's this room?" Luffy asked as he looked around. He saw maps upon maps stored everywhere.

The smell of pain and sorrow lingered in the room. It unsettled Luffy.

There was a bed in the corner. It had shackles attached to it.

"This room?" Arlong began to smile.

He noticed Luffy had become distracted. He held the kiribachi to Luffy's neck.

"This is Nami's room. This is where she makes me maps! Look around and see everything she has made for me these past eight years!"

Arlong continued to tell him about how Nami had served him well in this room.

Luffy noticed a bloodied pen on a desk where she drew maps until her hands had bled.

He noticed blood on the shackles as she tried her best to resist.

"Nami is my navigator! She's wasted on someone like you! Only I can use-"

Arlong was interrupted when Luffy had began to shriek. The noise had disoriented him and he lost his balance for a secoond.

That second was all Luffy needed to grab his face and force it into the floor.

"Use?!" Luffy roared into Arlong's face, "She's my friend! I won't let you hurt her anymore!"

* * *

The rest of the Straw Hats had sat near the villagers while they waited for the captain to finish his fight.

"What the-? Why is there furniture flying out of that room?" Ussop asked as a desks and tables came flying out of the room.

Piles of paper spewed forth from the room.

Nami looked up and gasped.

That was her room. The one that Arlong had forced her to stay in to make him maps.

And the room where she had been forced to share with Arlong at times.

She remembered all the things she had to do for the survival of her family. The torture she submitted herself to. All to prevent Arlong from killing everyone she loved.

Tears formed as she silently thanked Luffy.

He had helped her far more than she thought she deserved.

* * *

Arlong attempted to slash Luffy with the Kiribachi, who merely grabbed it and broke it in half.

Luffy's hand came down into Arlong's face making the floor crack.

Arlong forced the enraged Luffy and threw him to the other side of the room.

He attempted to form an attack, but Luffy had grabbed the back of his head and rocketed him in the chest.

Arlong growled as he tried to push Luffy away as he had wrapped his arms and legs around his torso.

He only then noticed that Luffy's head hadn't followed his body.

"Gum Gum Bell!" Luffy's headbutted Arlong's face.

His bent nose was forced into one of his eyes.

Luffy's head had been cut a little from the nose, but his eyes were filled with hate and madness.

He didn't care what happened to him as long as Arlong had been punished.

Arlong grabbed his head as he attempted to pull his nose out, not noticing Luffy standing next to him.

Luffy stretched his leg through the ceiling.

Arlong finally noticed Luffy's movements, but was unable to act as he was too wounded.

"Don't you understand what you're doing?! You're destroying everything Nami worked on for eight years! My ambitions lie within her!"

"I don't care! This place, I can't allow it to exist!" Luffy's eyes opened completely as he struggled to keep his balance.

"I'll destroy it! I'll destroy it all!" Luffy's foot had turned black as he focused all his strength into his leg.

He needed this place to be demolished. He looked at Arlong.

He needed to erase this man's existence so he couldn't hurt Nami ever again!

"SHARK-"

"AXE!"

Luffy's foot came down with the full force of Luffy's hate. His foot crashed through the roof and into Arlong upper back as Luffy roared.

Arlong was forced to lay prostrate as he crashed through several floors of his house into the foundation by Luffy.

Luffy continued his thundering roar as he wanted his foot to take down the entire Arlong Park.

He felt a surge of power from within as willed himself to push harder.

* * *

Everyone who was outside cried in panic as Arlong Park began to fall to the ground.

Fissures formed beneath the building, as if something in the earth had detonated.

The building collapsed in a heap.

Arlong Park was no more. The villagers began to cheer.

* * *

Nami looked up at the wreckage, looking for any sign of Luffy.

He couldn't be dead! Not after all he had done!

She promised herself not to cry. She couldn't! She needed to find Luffy!

The rest of the Straw Hats approached her, looking for any sign of him as well.

A figure rose up from the remains. Blood spilled from a gaping wound in his side. Bite marks on his neck.

"NAMI!" Luffy yelled as loud as he could with his warped voice, "YOU ARE MY FRIEND!"

Nami promised herself she wouldn't cry.

But she couldn't keep it.

A few sobs escaped from her mouth.

"Yes..." she answered weakly with a small smile.

* * *

Miss All Sunday looked on with a smile of her own.

He had actually done it. He defeated Arlong.

She was watching from afar using her Hana-Hana Fruit.

Luffy was amazing.

It seemed he could go up against impossible odds and come out on top.

She started to wonder if he was abl-

No.

She didn't dare dream he could help her as she was now.

Miss All Sunday walked away.

If she stayed any longer, she would get too hopeful.

* * *

Later that day, the Cocoyashi villagers celebrated Arlong's defeat with a party.

They had some trouble with the marines, but it had been settled by Nami.

The marines would take the mermen away and rebuild Gosa Village, a village that Arlong had destroyed.

Genzo smiled.

Nami really was Bellemere's daughter.

He had thought this when he had seen her deal with the marines. She was very persuasive.

"I really should have taken you up on your offers, Bellemere." he thought sadly.

The thing he regretted most was not telling her how he had felt about her.

He poured his sake over her grave. She loved the stuff he used to bring her.

"Hm? There's no food here." Genzo turned to see who was speaking.

It was that pirate captain, Luffy he recalled.

"Oh? Did someone die?" he asked as he saw the grave.

"Yes, someone died a long time ago." Genzo answered him as he closed his eyes.

"Ah, I offer my greatest gratitude. Or was it respect?"

"Regret. I offer my deepest regret."

"Yeah, that."

"Boy?"

"Hm? What?"

"If you hurt Nami.." Genzo turned to face Luffy, "I'll find you and kill you!" Genzo shouted, "Do you understand?!"

Luffy stood with a serious expression on his face with meat sticking out of it.

"I understand."

"Well, see ya, old man! Don't worry! I won't hurt her!" Luffy shouted at Genzo as he ran back to the village.

Genzo sighed and stood at Bellemere's grave.

He only hoped the future held only good things for Nami.

* * *

"Raise the sail!"

The villagers began to protest as Nami ran past them.

She jumped onto the Going Merry.

"Why don't you want to say goodbye?" Luffy asked. He wondered why she told them to set sail.

Wallets dropped from Nami's shirt as she loosened it.

"What?! She stole our wallets?!" the villagers shouted.

"I wish you luck!" Nami laughed as she watched them begin to demand her wallets back.

There was no way she was going to have a sappy goodbye!

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! As always, I might go back to this and try to fix it up if I think it needs retouching!**


	7. A Man Reminiscent of the Past

**Hello everyone! I'd like to thank TheVictor for advertising this story! **

**I really appreciate it, so go and check out "Once Again"! A fanfic that he writes!**

**Although, some of you may have been directed here from there.**

**This chapter is a bit shorter than the ones I have been posting, but I hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"Gah!" Ussop screamed, "My eyes!"

'Why does the world hate eyes?!' he thought as his legs flailed on the the ground while he held his face in his hands.

His new chili bomb had set off in his eyes as Luffy was sent flying by him.

Luffy tried to steal an orange from the trees Nami had put on the Going Merry the day before they left the Conomi Islands and Sanji was preventing him from succeeding.

He wouldn't allow his shitty rubber captain to take one of his beloved Nami-swan's treasures!

Zoro could be heard snoring in the lookout post. It had been a day since they had left, but it got boring too quickly. He couldn't do much training as his injuries had not yet healed.

He wished that he was a rubberman like Luffy. It seemed all he had to do was eat meat and he would be good as new.

The fight with Arlong had made Luffy looked like he had died where he stood. Luffy had passed out bleeding atop the wreckage and they had to rush him to a doctor.

Nami sighed as she looked through the paper they received from a News Coo. It seemed prices would be rising as the World Government started to raise taxes in the lands they controlled.

She wondered why they needed more money. They already controlled the entire world.

They also had an unexpected surprise as they learned that Luffy had gotten a bounty of 30 million belli.

Nami had been a bit worried that they were going to die, but she couldn't stay upset for long.

Arlong Park crashing down was a memory that would not soon be forgotten.

She turned to check the weather and their heading.

The Going Merry was headed for Loguetown.

Nami was sure that Luffy would be excited to be in the city the previous Pirate King, Gold Roger, had been born and had died in.

* * *

Miss All Sunday giggled as she held a wanted poster in her hand.

The Straw Hats always managed to amuse her, she thought while Banchi followed the Going Merry at a distance.

She controlled herself as she looked at the name on the poster.

Monkey D. Luffy. Bounty of 30 million belli.

Miss All Sunday felt lucky.

She didn't expect to see another D. for a long time. Not after Saul.

A smile framed her face.

Looks like she could follow them for a bit more before she headed back to Alabasta.

* * *

"Alright, let's all meet up back here later!" Luffy shouted as he ran off.

He really wanted to see where the Pirate King spent his last moments.

Nami sighed as she watched him hurry away. It was official, she knew Luffy too well.

"Nami-swan! May I please have some money to buy some delicious food?"

"Hey, Nami! Could I get some money to go spend on some materials?"

"Hey! Witch! I need new swords. Give me money."

"You rude shitty green-headed neanderthal! Don't talk to Nami-swan that way! Apologize!"

"Like hell you pervert cook! Don't make me kick your ass!"

"What?! You couldn't beat me if I had to use one toe! Or did you forget you only have one sword?!"

"You bastard! I'll-

"SHUT UP!"

Ussop could watch as Nami unleashed the full fury on the three of them.

As his vision faded, he couldn't help but open his lips to ask a question.

"Why...why did you hit me...?"

* * *

Zoro rubbed his head as he walked towards the swordsmith.

He was loaned 100 thousand belli. At 300% interest.

That witch would pay, he thought as he increased his pace.

Lets see how she fares against the next enemy he had to fight.

He heard a commotion as he turned to see some pirates attack a woman with a sword on her hip.

Zoro scowled. He didn't like men picking on women. It reminded him too much of how he used to be.

Of how he acted to Kuina.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the forming memories, he looked back to assess the situation.

He was surprised to find her in a balanced position, hovering over the now fallen pirates.

'Impressive. It seems she has some skill.' Zoro thought.

At least, until she fell over on her face in front of him, her glasses falling from her.

Zoro sighed as he watched her pitifully search for her glasses. He decided to help her.

She had shown him something interesting. Now his day wasn't too boring.

* * *

There were so many beautiful ladies!

Sanji was in heaven. He was standing in the middle of a marketplace as he continued to shop for wom- food.

He couldn't help but have hearts shoot out of his eye as he saw a gorgeous woman.

Even with that scar on her cheek, the rest of her body looked flawless!

He moved from vendor to vendor towards the lady. He haggled a bit with various traders and bought some things.

Sanji felt good, and it wasn't just the women he could ogle in the marketplace.

He loved being a pirate! Being able to cook and buy new ingredients to cook even more!

And the ladies! Oh...the ladies!

Sanji thanked whatever deity was out there.

This was heaven!

* * *

"So, these are the streets the Pirate King walked down?" Luffy wondered aloud.

He couldn't believe it! He was walking on the same path Gold Roger walked down!

Luffy had just left the bar with that weird old guy who told him stories of the late Pirate King.

He had liked the old man and the stories he told. They were so cool!

The execution platform was in the distance.

Luffy imagined seeing the Gold Roger kneeling down as he told the rest of the world about his treasure.

This is the greatest adventure he had ever been on!

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as a white haired man ran out of the bar Luffy left.

She listened to the stories as well using her Hana Hana.

She had heard Luffy's dream to become the Pirate King.

A smile formed on her face. She couldn't help but believe in him.

* * *

Ussop couldn't believe it.

He had just beaten Daddy Masterson, a famed bounty hunter, and held his new goggles in his hands.

Yassop had been the only person to beat him before, and Ussop did as well.

Pride filled within Ussop. He had taken one step closer to becoming a brave warrior of the sea.

He pushed the memory of Nami protecting him from getting killed.

Brave warriors did the protecting. They weren't protected.

* * *

Zoro couldn't believe his eyes as he handed the girl her glasses.

She still seemed to wear that grateful smile on her face, blushing a bit.

It had never changed since the day he had promised her they were rivals in becoming the greatest in the world.

Zoro shook his head.

Kuina died a long time ago. This wasn't her.

He walked away without a word as the woman began to thank him.

She looked too much like Kuina. She was even a swordsman.

'There are many strange things in the world', he wondered, 'Maybe I'll never meet her again?'

He paused.

'That's a bit scary.'

Zoro stopped in front of what appeared to be a swordsmith.

* * *

It had been so long.

Nothing was ever interesting anymore. Not since the last battle.

Waiting was so boring.

Wait! Someone was coming!

Someone powerful!

A man entered, a white sword strapped to his waist.

It seemed to give off a pure aura. A clean and clear one.

It would have been a wonderful thing to go against.

The man talked with the weakling that had sat at the counter all day.

An ugly look crossed his face when the man told him something.

His expression changed as the man showed him the white sword.

It's blade gleamed in what light shined through the windows.

"This is just a regular sword."

"What did you say?!"

Someone else was coming! The aura around this one was different.

A woman entered, staring at the white sword the man had showed to the weakling.

She seemed to ooze excitement as she went closer to observe it.

The white sword was something worthy. It was powerful.

Weakling started spouting weak words as he handed the woman another sword.

It was also powerful! It held such passion in its blade!

All of these powerful opponents were around!

The weakling pointed in a direction. The man headed towards the area.

Sandai Kitetsu became excited. The swordsman was headed its way!

Finally, maybe this one would wield it! The battles they would experience!

* * *

Wado couldn't help but feel something off about the blade its master picked up.

Killing intent was a weak description of the aura the blade gave off.

The woman with the pure heart warned him about it. Even the shopkeeper seemed to express some discomfort.

Wado watched as its master threw the blade up in the air, spinning it as he did so.

It sensed the fear the blade had felt when it was tossed.

The blade didn't want to cut him. It seemed it wished to be wielded by the master.

Wado watched as the blade narrowly missed the master's arm.

It had sank into the floor, its edge was extremely sharp.

The master smirked, and Wado would have if it could.

The blade might have been frighteningly bloodthirsty, but it was just its nature.

It wouldn't harm one it considered worthy of being wielded by.

The blade reminded Wado much of its master. It wanted to fight. To be alive.

It was ambitious, this Kitetsu.

Looks like the future held some promise.

* * *

Yubashiri was bored.

The owner of the shop had priced it too high. No one would ever buy it.

Two people had entered the shop. They seemed very powerful.

They both held great spirit. They were worthy of being Yubashiri's master.

The shop owner picked it up and handed it to the man.

He had two swords with him.

One held a pure aura. One of clarity and tranquility.

The other felt like a mad beast. One that wanted to destroy all other swords to show its greatness.

Yubashiri couldn't help but feel excited. Such calamity!

It was a nice change of pace from the boring corner it had been put in.

* * *

Zoro walked out of the shop.

This Kitetsu was a bit heavy, so Zoro wanted to use it with his left hand, his dominant one.

Yubashiri was very light, and equally sharp as Kitetsu. It would be wielded in the right hand.

Wado would be in his mouth. He trusted the sword enough to keep it there.

He felt more secure with three swords.

* * *

"Wow!" Luffy enthused, "What a great view!"

He was currently standing on the execution platform that Gold Roger had perished on.

There was some commotion on the ground, but he didn't mind it that much.

"It's been a while, Luffy."

He looked at the source of the voice. A woman was speaking to him from the ground.

She held a long spiky metal mace in one of her hands.

"Who are you?" he had never seen this woman before in his life.

"I will never forget you." she put a hand to her face, "You are the one that gave me this scar. The only mark on my flawless body!"

Luffy started to sweat. This woman was creeping him out.

"Your heavy hand...I can still feel it." she said with a smile as she stared into his eyes.

Okay, Luffy was scared. This woman looked like she wanted to eat him.

He watched as marines had tried to arrest the woman. She had refused to be arrested as she swung her mace around.

The marines fired, but their bullets slid off her body, not harming her in the slightest.

"That Devil Fruit you ate is impressive..." another voice came from behind the woman.

He saw some big nose in a cloak.

"...Lady Alvida."

A memory flashed through Luffy's head. He remembered this walrus of a woman had hit him with a mace as big as the one the woman had.

"Alvida? I don't see her anywhere."

"I am Alvida." the woman told Luffy.

"Wow, did you eat the fat off of your body? You look different." Luffy wondered if that was possible.

It sounded like a good idea.

He watched as the big nose threw off his cloak.

He proclaimed something, but Luffy wasn't listening. He heard a familiar name though.

"Oh, it's you, Boogey."

"Stop insulting me!"

Luffy couldn't start laughing at Buggy as weird wooden stocks closed around his neck.

They felt weird. They were draining his strength.

"It's been a long time, Straw Hat. How's Roronoa Zoro?" a man on sat on the stocks. Luffy didn't know who he was.

"Better than you'll be when I get out of this." Luffy was annoyed. Too many strangers wanted to get in his way of looking around on the platform.

* * *

Nami began to run towards the town square.

A large storm was coming and they needed to get out of there!

She slowed down a bit and smiled as she watched a large marine give a kid some money for ice cream.

The little girl had accidentally spilled her 3 leveled ice cream on the man's pants.

He apologized and gave her enough money to buy a 5 leveled ice cream.

Nami thought it was sweet, but she really needed to get Luffy and the others out of there.

She continued to run, hoping she would get to them in time.

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as the Straw Hats all arrived near the town square.

Navigator-chan had been running around trying to find them all.

She turned to frown at the execution platform.

Too many marines were around. As much as she liked Luffy, she wouldn't be able to help him.

She needed Crocodile's help to find the Rio Poneglyph. She couldn't abandon her dream just to be found by some marines saving a pirate from East Blue.

Even if he was a good man. That he was noble.

She couldn't help but giggle as she watched him try to scratch his nose. He was unable due to the Seastone imbedded within the stocks.

The frown returned.

Even if he was funny, she would have to watch him die here, she thought sadly.

* * *

"And now I would like to begin this flashy execution!"

Luffy was bored. Boogey was spouting words again.

He must loved to hear him himself talk.

"I am very sorry," Luffy said with no emotion, "Please forgive me."

"Who will let you go?!" Boogey stepped on his hat.

"Luffy!" he could hear Sanji and Zoro shouting in the distance as he pushed Boogey off the platform.

Nobody stepped on his hat.

"You bastard! Do you have any last words to say?!" Boogey was already raising his sword to decapitate Luffy.

He could see Zoro and Sanji running towards the platform. They were rushing like mad to get to him.

"I AM THE MAN WHO WILL BECOME PIRATE KING!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs.

He felt oddly at peace.

Even if he were to die here, he had fun.

* * *

"Tatsumaki!"

Zoro cut any that stood in his way.

He needed to get Luffy down from there! He couldn't let him die!

Luffy swore he would be Pirate King! He had helped him out!

Zoro wouldn't let him die! He couldn't!

* * *

Sanji recalled how Luffy had saved the Baratie and everything he had experienced so far.

"Collier!" Sanji shouted as he kicked someone in the neck, watching him fly into another group of pirates.

He owed Luffy too much to let him die here!

He needed to get Luffy off of that platform!

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as Luffy's friends tried to fight through the pirates blocking their way.

They were making good progress, but she could tell they wouldn't make it.

Her arm were raised. She was prepared to help them out until she remembered her place.

They lowered. She couldn't do anything.

Her frown deepened.

She didn't want Luffy to die.

Then she saw something she thought she would never see again.

Her eyes widened. It couldn't be possible?!

* * *

"Zoro! Nami! Ussop! Sanji!" the blade was closing in on Luffy's neck.

"Sorry, but I'm dead!" Luffy grinned.

His adventure was the greatest he ever had.

"Don't say that!" he could hear Zoro and Sanji scream.

Their voices were hoarse. They exhausted themselves wiping out most of the pirates in the mad dash towards him.

He felt a cut form as the blade struck his neck.

* * *

He was laughing?!

Several people had that same thought.

Zoro couldn't believe that his captain would smile!

He was about to die, but his laughter held sincerity within it.

He was glad. Luffy was glad to have met them.

That's what Zoro had thought as the blade hit Luffy just as the area lit up in a bright light.

* * *

Robin was reminded of how Saul had laughed before he perished to Aokoji.

He told her to find friends. To find loved ones.

His smile told her everything before he had passed.

He was grateful that Robin had been his friend.

* * *

'It's the same as that one man's!' Smoker couldn't believe it.

This Monkey D. Luffy had the same laugh as the one the Pirate King had gave just as he was executed!

He saw that the platform had been demolished by something as the light faded away.

* * *

Buggy laid near the remains, his body charred as he had been struck by lightning.

Everyone was utterly speechless.

"Shishishi!" Luffy picked up his hat, "That was close!"

Sanji turned towards Zoro and used a tone he never thought he would use towards the swordsman.

"Hey, do you believe in God?"

"Don't say something stupid." Zoro sighed as he sheathed his swords.

It was time to get out of there.

* * *

"STUPID RUBBERMAN!"

Buggy was beyond pissed.

He was so close!

"Did you just laugh?!"

Buggy began to eviscerate one of his pirates.

"N-n-no, Captain!" the pirate screamed in pain and fear as his insides spilled out.

"The marines are closing in." Alvida noted as she watched Buggy's deranged attack on his own subordinate.

"I'm never worried about the marines!" Buggy said as he watched the man sink to the floor, dead.

Blood began to spill from Buggy's skin.

He was so close to killing that shitty rubberman!

"Prepare the-!"

Buggy was interrupted as smoke began to capture all the pirates in the area.

"White Out!"

Some of the pirates began to fire their weapons at Smoker, but nothing could harm him. He didn't have time to play ar-

"Bara Bara Cannon!"

Knives went tearing through the smoke and Smoker felt pain.

How could he touch him?!

Buggy stood still, but began to split his body into pieces that floated apart by a few centimeters.

Blood spilled forth from where he had split.

"THAT SHITTY RUBBERMAN!" Buggy was beyond pissed.

He was going to try to kill Luffy, no matter what!

* * *

Zoro swung Kitetsu, parrying the Tashigi's Shigure from cutting his head off.

This wasn't what he had expected, he thought as he blocked a vertical slash with Wado.

But at least it was exciting!

Tashigi stood before him, Shigure was held in both of her hands.

She was soon held up against a pillar with Wado imbedding itself near her neck.

"No matter what happens." Zoro grinned, "I won't give this sword to anyone."

He pulled Wado out and sheathed it and Kitetsu as he walked away.

"See you."

"Wait! Why don't you kill me?!" Tashigi couldn't belive it. Why did he spare her? He was a pirate!

Zoro didn't answer as he continued.

Rain had started to pour during their fight, but neither one noticed.

"Is it because I'm a woman?!" she shouted.

Zoro stopped and turned to look at her. She sounded way too familiar.

"In a fight, there is no such thing as a man or a woman!" Tashigi continued.

"You'll never know how hard it is to be accepted as a woman swordsman! I didn't become a swordsman for fu-"

"I'VE NEVER LIKED YOU SINCE THE FIRST TIME WE MET!"

Tashigi gasped in shock. She didn't expect that.

"You talk to much like my dead friend! You say the same things!" Zoro had gotten close.

His face inches away from Tashigi's.

"Don't believe in that nonsense! Become strong to overcome all of it!"

Tashigi backed up, but Zoro followed.

She began to sweat, but the rain hid it.

What had she done?

* * *

Luffy and Sanji had continued running, although Zoro could be seen catching up.

They were closing in on the Going Merry.

It was time to get out of here!

"Luffy!" an unfamiliar voice called out.

They turned to see a man in a green cloak looking at them.

"Huh? Who are you?"

The man grinned, tattoos lined the left side of his face.

"We don't have long, Luffy."

"You're strange! We have to go now, bye!" Luffy started to run to the Going Merry.

The storm was just starting to get worse.

"Luffy!" The man continued to yell even as Luffy got father away.

"Question the world, Luffy! Don't let it blind you to the truths that it hides!"

"Okay! Goodbye!" Luffy had never trusted the world.

The world was the one that took Sabo away.

It was the one that forced him to be experimented on for the sake of power.

* * *

The man grinned. He hadn't expected to even see his son's face.

Monkey D. Dragon continued to laugh even as the maelstrom reached a new level of destruction.

Today was a great day!

* * *

"Shall we begin the ceremony of entering a new sea?" Sanji said as he brought out a barrel.

He told them it was a thing Zeff had mentioned. A ceremony to celebrate the start of a new adventure.

Sanji decided to go first, to show them how it was done.

"I want to find All-Blue!" He put his foot on the barrel.

"I want to be the greatest swordsman in the world!" Zoro exclaimed as he also put his foot on the barrel.

He decided to not start a fight. This was a celebration, after all.

"I want to draw a map of the world!" Nami joined in.

"I want to be a brave warrior of the sea!" Ussop was still proud of his earlier victory.

"I"M GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs. His foot joining his friends.

Sanji raised his foot and the others followed. They knew what was coming next.

"LET'S GO TO THE GRAND LINE!"

Their voices one as they crushed the barrel, sending bits of wood flying through the air.

* * *

Miss All Sunday managed to follow due to Banchi's incredible speed.

She knew that more nicotine made Banchi more energetic.

Hearing the sound of a barrel breaking, she focused on the eye that was on the Going Merry.

It seems they were already prepared for the journey.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw where they were headed.

'Oh my.' she thought, 'It seems like I'll be unable to follow them for a while.'

She watched as the Going Merry sailed into the calm belt.

* * *

"Captain Smoker! We're sorry to say Buggy and his crew managed to escape!"

Smoker cursed.

Buggy had managed to escape and he had sent his men to find them. It looks like they got away for good.

"That doesn't matter. Prepare a ship."

"Sir?"

He turned to look at the ocean.

Smoker could barely see the Going Merry as it sailed away.

"I'm going after that kid."

* * *

Buggy laughed as he managed to get away from the marines.

Most of his men had survived as well! Which was great!

He had already forgotten the man he cut open.

"Let's go to the Grand Line, everyone!" He shouted.

"I've begun to miss it!"

Buggy was going to get that shitty rubberman!

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed it! Please, let me know what you think!**


	8. Wounds from the Past Heal Slowly

**Here's the next chapter everyone! I rushed a bit as I got closer to the end. Need sleep...**

**Let me know what you think! I'm not sure if I wrote the end of this chapter well.**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

It was weird. He had thought someone was there.

Looking around, he didn't see any food to eat.

He sneezed! Stupid cold. This is why he stayed in the warmer part of the sea!

Coming to and from Fishman island was too much traveling.

The giant seaking looked around once more.

He had really thought food had come. What a shame.

Nothing had happened on his trip, so he expected something to happen.

'Maybe I'll see one of those pirate ships and have some fun?', he thought as he submerged.

* * *

The Straw Hats laid on the deck of the Going Merry as the rain continued to pour on them once more.

"Do you see why we have to use an entrance now?" Nami muttered weakly. They had barely survived.

"Yes," Zoro couldn't stop sweating. They were too close to death for him to fight. "I understand now."

"I got it!" Nami cried as she sat up. Why hadn't she thought of it before?!

"We can use the mountain to enter the Grand Line!"

"You still want to go back there?"

Nami explained how the four sea's waves would cause a stream to form at the base of the mountain. They could ride this stream to go up the mountain.

If they missed the entrance, they would crash and die.

"So it's a magic mountain? I see!" Luffy was excited. He had never seen a magic mountain before!

"It seems you didn't understand at all..."

Nami didn't have enough strength to correct him. She knew that was as far as his understanding of such things went.

"I've never heard of a ship that could climb up a mountain." Zoro was tired. Everything seemed to get crazy the further they headed into their adventure.

"I've heard a bit about it." Sanji added hopefully, ignoring Zoro.

"You know about the magic mountain?"

"No, that it's hard to even enter the Grand Line. This is something we should expect at all times while we sail through it."

Eventually, everyone had agreed that it was a good plan.

It was much better than going through the Calm Belt.

* * *

Miss All Sunday heard their plan to enter the Grand Line.

It was so dangerous, but it suited them.

They didn't seem to do anything safe anyway.

She knew Banchi was able to go up the stream.

He was stronger than he looked.

She couldn't help but wonder if they would have interesting deaths if they missed the entrance.

Miss All Sunday shrugged. She could probably save one or two of them if that happened.

* * *

"Don't worry! You can leave the steering to us!"

Zoro remembered their look as Ussop and Sanji claimed that. They had looked so determined.

The breaking of wood had distracted him from looking at the Red Line.

A sigh escaped his lips as he began to sweat.

It seemed that those two idiots had gotten way too ahead of themselves.

"The rudder is breaking!" Nami screamed, "We're going to crash into the gate!"

Nami had expected to at least get to the Grand Line before they had died.

Looks like enthusiasm wasn't enough, she thought as she watched Luffy jump off the Going Merry.

* * *

'Oh my,' Miss All Sunday thought, 'Looks like Luffy came to rescue again.'

She watched as Luffy used his Gum Gum Balloon to prevent them from crashing.

The technique corrected their heading. They were now going up the stream towards the Grand Line.

A giggle could be heard from her. She began to wonder.

How much Luffy could take before he popped?

* * *

Luffy struggled for air as Zoro had pulled him back to the Going Merry after he had saved them.

He was about to explode! He didn't know ships were that heavy!

Luffy managed to see Sanji and Ussop dancing with the broken rudder in their hands.

If only they had turned right when he told them to, he wouldn't have had to do that.

He couldn't stay mad at them. He stood up as they all shouted,

"WE DID IT!"

They were finally on the Grand Line!

He got on his special seat, which was the ram head that served as the Going Merry's figurehead.

Putting a hand on his brow to block light from getting into his eyes, he could see what looked like a mountain ahead of them through the fog.

Sweat began to roll down his forehead. If they didn't do anything they would crash.

Well, at least they made it to the Grand Line.

* * *

"Hey!" Zoro shouted, "We have to do something or else we'll hit that thing!"

They were headed straight towards a black mountain. He couldn't even see the top of it.

"Someone control the rudder!"

"But the rudder broke!" he heard Ussop cry out from the Kitchen.

'No thanks to you!' he thought as he rushed towards the Kitchen.

"We have to do something! I'll try to help!"

"Alright! I know what to do!" Luffy shouted as he ran to the Cannon Deck.

Zoro couldn't pay attention to Luffy at the moment. He needed to help steer the ship!

After a few panicked moments of trying to turn the ship, a cannon could be heard.

It came from where Luffy was.

* * *

The cannon had slowed the Going Merry significantly, but it was still headed for the mountain at a dangerous speed.

The Going Merry slammed into the mountain, the figurehead breaking off and falling to the deck below.

Luffy had seen this and he ran out of the Cannon Deck onto the Main Deck.

'That mountain will pay!' he thought as his skin turned white.

Nobody touched his special seat.

* * *

Nami was frightened.

The mountain wasn't a mountain. It was the biggest sea monster she had ever seen!

It opened its eye as it began to bellow.

'Looks like it hadn't noticed us!' she thought, 'We can still get out of here!'

All thoughts stopped as she saw Luffy out of the corner of her eye cock a fist back.

"You destroyed," Luffy sent his fist shooting towards the beast's eye, "my special seat!"

His fist hit its eye.

"YOU IDIOT!" the rest of the crew screamed.

Tears fell from all of them.

They were dead.

The monster was now looking right at them.

The Straw Hats screamed as they were being sucked into its mouth, Luffy falling from the Going Merry as it happened.

'Well,' Nami thought, 'At least Arlong's dead...'

The monster closed its mouth, darkness surrounding the Going Merry.

* * *

Banchi slowed to a halt, keeping a distance from the island whale.

Luffy could be seen climbing to the top of it, but the Going Merry had disappeared.

Thinking about it, she remembered that some single-digits had been sent to this area to capture the whale.

'Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9?'

She tried to recall the names of the agents.

It had been a while since they had reported in. They were late.

"HEY! GIVE THEM BACK!"

Miss All Sunday looked up to see Luffy stomping on the island whale's head.

"I STILL NEED THEM TO GO ON FUN ADVENTURES!"

'That's what you're worried about?' Miss All Sunday couldn't help but laugh.

She watched as he disappeared and the whale submerged.

It became silent around her. Banchi's cigarette smoke was the only thing she could see aside from the sea and the Red Line.

The waves gently rolled around Banchi.

Sighing, she reclined back into her chair.

It had gotten boring.

She could hear muffled crashes underneath the water.

Miss All Sunday hoped she wouldn't be smashed into a red paste.

* * *

"Is this a dream?" Ussop asked as he looked around.

"Yes, I think it might be a dream." answered Nami.

They were surrounded by a sky filled with clouds, an island was ahead of them.

She thought they had been eaten, but it looks like they had died.

There was no way a sky could be in a monster.

The Going Merry moved forwards. Being pushed by the strange colored water.

Suddenly, they were attacked by a giant squid.

Zoro and Sanji were taken by surprise. Nami and Ussop screamed in the background.

Spears burst from its head and blood sprayed all of them.

Too much was happening too fast.

"Where is Luffy?!" Ussop cried in a corner.

"I wanna go home!" Nami was crying along with him. She held her head in her hands.

Zoro and Sanji noticed the squid was slowly being pulled towards the island.

The Going Merry followed. The squid had hooked onto the ship and the two fighters saw a silhouette pulling the ropes attached to the spears.

"You think it's friendly?" Zoro couldn't help but asked. He had his hand on Kitetsu.

"I don't know." Sanji blew some smoke out.

"It looks like we're going to find out."

They got closer. The figure was revealed to be a-

"Is that a flower?"

Sanji wondered aloud.

Zoro looked at the figure as well.

"Looks like one."

There was a man with the ropes in his hands. It appeared he had styled his hair like flower petals.

"No, I think he's human!"

They could all see clothes on him. It must have been human.

* * *

The man looked Sanji in the eyes.

Sanji felt himself freeze up. Terror had gripped his heart and his skin grew cold.

Sanji breathed heavily. This pressure! It was too much!

The man's eyes looked like a predator's.

He looked like he would murder them all and eat them.

In a way, the man reminded him of Luffy.

He began to move, each step he took thundered in Sanji's ears.

They had to escape! This monster wou-

Sanji saw the man sit down and open a newspaper.

"CAN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!" this man pissed Sanji off! He was just some old guy!

"H-Hey! If you want to fight us, we're not scared of you! We have a cannon!" Ussop shouted as his knees shook.

The man had looked Sanji in the eyes again.

Horrible images began to flash through Sanji's mind as he imagined that they would all die terrible deaths.

"...Don't even think about it..." the man's voice was harsh and cold, "...or someone will die."

Sanji felt some courage return. He wouldn't let his Nami-swan die!

"Oh?! Who's going to die, old man?!"

"Me."

"YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF!"

"Hey, calm down, pervert cook." Zoro put a hand on Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji flinched horribly, but he calmed down a bit.

"Who are you and what is this place?" Zoro asked, hoping to get some answers.

* * *

The man looked Zoro in the eyes.

Zoro was filled with fear as he sensed bloodlust wash over him.

This man would eviscerate all of them and wear their entrails as clo-

"Before you ask questions..." the man turned the page of his newspaper,"...shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

"Ah! My mistake." Zoro was sweating. Since Luffy was gone, and he was the second-strongest, he was responsible for the rest of the crew.

"My name is Ro-"

"I am Crocus." the man began, "I am 71 years old, Pisces sign, AB blood type. I am a care-"

"SHOULD I KILL HIM NOW?!" Zoro began to draw Kitetsu, he could sense the bloodlust of the sword matching his own.

"Calm down..." Sanji put a hand on Zoro's shoulder.

He understood how the moss head felt.

The Straw Hats learned from Crocus they were in the whale's stomach. He pointed them to the exit.

"Why is there a sky with clouds in it? Aren't we in a whale's stomach?" Ussop couldn't help but ask.

"I drew them there. This whale is very playful."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Ussop, just ignore him." Sanji and Zoro both put a hand on his shoulders.

They knew his pain.

* * *

Luffy fell down the hallway, unable to stop himself.

He had found a hatch on the monster's head and jumped into it.

Mysterious holes always led to fun adventures!

He had the faint memory of someone throwing him down a hole, but it was blurry.

All of a sudden, the whole area just shook!

He went rolling down the corridor.

"What's that, Mr. 9?!"

"I don't know, Ms. Wednesday!"

Luffy plowed into two people, sending them straight through a door.

He saw the Going Merry and his crew.

"You guys!" Luffy shouted, "You're alright!"

"Ah!" he gave a look to the two others that had fallen with him.

"Save me first."

He crashed into the foul-smelling, strange colored water.

Luffy discovered very quickly that it wasn't a good idea to get a mouthful of the stuff.

* * *

The Straw Hats watched as Crocus fell unmoving into the gastric juices, his body charred from being hit by the bazookas wielded by the two strangers they had saved.

The strangers talked about eating some whale. It angered Luffy. All meat belonged to him!

Zoro jumped in. The old guy was weird, and he had pissed Zoro off, but he couldn't just let him die.

Luffy smacked the two agents in the head, blood spurting from where his knuckles had impacted.

His skin had turned white and he wore a displeased look on his face.

They were being noisy. Plus they burned the deck a little when they had fired their bazookas.

They couldn't eat the whale either. It was his.

* * *

They had docked on the island, Luffy began to climb the solitary tree that had grown on it.

He thought he saw some coconuts and he had become hungry.

"...Laboon made friends with some pirates that had sailed to the Grand Line... They promised to return after two years..." Luffy heard some bits and pieces of Laboon's past.

He was so close to reaching the top!

"So that's why Laboon's trying to get to the other side." he heard Nami say. It looks like she understood the story.

"It's been fifty years now." Luffy stopped climbing.

"He still believes his friends are alive."

Memories of being alone in a cell came to him.

He saw himself crying in the corner.

He remembered crying for Ace to save him.

The feeling of being alone was the most unbearable pain he had ever felt.

The tree was no longer interesting.

Luffy jumped down and looked at Crocus.

He had a worried look on his face as he told them of Laboon's past.

He didn't know why he cared, but he wanted this whale to stop.

Laboon's friends wouldn't want him to do this.

* * *

Crocus showed them way out. Luffy had extended an invitation to him, but he had declined.

He was too old for the pirating business.

Fresh air greeted them, the sky was a cool blue as the sun shined its warm rays over them.

The Straw Hats were glad for this. It was warm and humid in the stomach.

Stinky too.

They quickly dumped their two passengers into the sea.

"Is this gastric acid?!"

"No, Ms. Wednesday! It's the sea!"

They looked up at the Straw Hats.

"So," Luffy began to pick his nose as he watched them, "Who are you?"

"It's none of your business!"

They proceeded to shout that they would get their revenge on them as the Straw Hats watched them swim away.

"Ms. Wednesday?" Sanji thought the name sounded familiar. He couldn't recall seeing such a beauty before, but he sure hoped they were to meet again!

Zoro scratched his chin. It sounded familiar, but he supposed it didn't matter. The name meant nothing to him.

Luffy recalled a woman in purple cowgirl clothing helping him out a few times in the past as he picked up some sort of snow globe object.

"I guess it doesn't matter." he grasped the object a little tighter, "Like they said, it's none of our business."

* * *

The Straw Hats docked near a lighthouse that Crocus had watched over

Luffy had questions that needed answering. Laboon wasn't just something to eat.

Even if he did look kinda tasty.

He sat down, thinking up a plan of what to do next.

That mysterious lady in purple had some answering to do.

Laboon was also a problem. Luffy didn't want him to kill himself.

He sighed. Too much thinking hurt his head.

He saw Laboon floating in the sea, bellowing sadly.

Anger began to fill him. Didn't he know that his friends didn't want to hurt himself?!

Luffy rushed forward, his skin white, his face a demon's.

He heard the surprised gasps coming from his crew, but he didn't care.

Laboon let loose another cry, one of loneliness and loss.

Luffy rocketed up towards the wound he had sustained earlier from hitting his head on the Red Line.

The blood that leaked out of the gash just made him more upset.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy's hand shot into the wound, his fingers were already claws.

He felt the flesh tear and rip. His claws weren't able to dig too deeply into Laboon's skin as it was very thick.

Screaming, Luffy kept slashing away at the wound.

* * *

Laboon cried out in pain. He didn't know why the little stretchy human had hurt him, but it was going to pay!

His head crashed into the Red Line once more. Blood gushing out of his wound as the stretchy human continued to dig into his head.

Panicking he swung his head and the human cried out. Laboon paused as he did so.

He swung his head and watched as the human followed the movement. He then tilted forwards, sending the little human flying.

He crashed into the lighthouse. Laboon remorsefully thought he had killed him.

Served him right for attacking him.

Laboon didn't have much time to react when a fist slammed into his eye.

More anger than pain coursed through him. This human didn't know when to quit!

He began to rush towards the human!

"WE ARE NOW EVEN!"

Laboon paused as he looked at the human. It was strange. He forgot about his lost friends, and felt angry at the little human.

He couldn't help but feel a little gratitude. It had been a while since he had felt anything else besides his sorrow.

* * *

Zoro watched as Luffy finished painting his symbol on Laboon.

His painting skills were atrocious.

'At least Laboon could scare away any threats.' Zoro thought as he eyed the symbol wearily.

It looked scary to him.

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as the Straw Hats had settled near a lighthouse. It looked to be a part of the Red Line.

She had been worried. She thought she would never see them again.

The thought unsettled her. Over the past week, she had enjoyed watching them.

She watched Luffy's fight with the whale and had been impressed.

Miss All Sunday knew that Luffy could probably do more damage, but he seemed to want to stop the whale from crying.

He took out a huge paintbrush and began to paint something on the whale's head.

Looking back to another point on the wall, she saw Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 spying on the Straw Hats.

Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 had been swimming towards the Red Line, but she made sure they didn't see her by having Banchi stay away from it.

His shell wasn't exactly the right color to hide behind the waves, but they didn't even suspect her to be around.

Looking back at the Straw Hats, it seemed Cook-san had gotten angry and kicked Luffy into the sea.

That wasn't a nice thing to do.

She was pleased to see Nami throw Sanji in the water to fish Luffy out. The sea was too cruel of a punishment to a Devil Fruit eater.

Hearing some more screaming from the two Baroque Works agents, she looked up into the sky.

A vulture with an otter atop it were flying through the air towards her fellow agents. They had a package for otter was Mr. 13 and the vulture was Ms. Friday.

She saw Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday drop a package bomb on them, fuse still lit while Ms. Wednesday and Mr. 9 panicked.

Surprisingly, Ms. Friday flew over to her and Mr. 13 gave her a package as well.

This was unexpected, she thought as she opened it up.

In it was a note telling her to report back. It seems she had taken too long in her mission.

Crocodile wouldn't be very pleased. She wasn't able to recruit anyone.

At least she managed to find the little spy again. Miss All Sunday had wondered where Nefertari Vivi had gone to.

After all that work of letting Vivi spy on her, it would be wasteful for her to die here.

Crossing her arms, Miss All Sunday gave the two a powerful push into the sea before the bomb went off.

She really was too kind.

* * *

"I am the king."

"Stop lying." Nami was beginning to hate this guy.

First he claims that he and his associate will get revenge, now they're asking for help.

Everyone seemed so selfish.

"But I broke your log pose." Nami said with fake concern, "Do you still want to travel with us?"

She watched as they got rude and angry.

"Ah! I forgot! Crocus gave me a new one."

"Please be merciful, ma'm. Our lives depend on your kindness."

Nami smiled. She liked to see people groveling to her. It felt nice.

* * *

The Going Merry had left the Red Line and set sail for Whiskey Peak.

Luffy decided to bring the two weirdos with them.

They might have attacked Crocus and Laboon if they had left them there.

It was unexpected when it began to snow, but the Straw Hats didn't seem to care.

"Finished!" Luffy shouted as he finished his masterpiece. Mr. Snowman was complete!

Ussop couldn't help but laugh at Luffy's attempt to make a snowman.

"Your skill is so horrible." Ussop laughed haughtily. He would show Luffy who was best!

"What?!" Luffy turned to face Ussop a disgruntled look on his face.

It turned to awe as he looked at Ussop's ice creation.

"Gaze upon my masterpiece! I call it, the Snow Queen!"

Next to Ussop sat a beautiful snow sculpture.

It had wonderful detail as Ussop had meticulously worked on it.

It kinda looked like Kaya.

"That's so cool!" Luffy enthused.

Kaya the Snow Queen's head flew off as Mr. Snowman hit for critical damage. "Snowman Punch!"

"What the hell?! How dare you?!" Ussop flew towards Mr. Snowman and kicked its head off.

"No!" Luffy cried, "Mr. Snowman!"

* * *

Nami sat inside the kitchen as she tried to stay warm. How could those idiots play outside while it was this cold?

"Nami-swan! How long do you want me to shovel the snow?"

"Until it stops snowing, Sanji-kun."

"Yes madam!" Sanji continued his arduous labor of love.

"Hey! Don't you have a heater or something?" "We're cold."

"Shut up!" Nami began to get frustrated with the two agents, "You are not guests! How about you go outside and shovel the snow off the ship?!"

A flash was seen through the window as lightning struck the ocean.

Nami couldn't believe it! The weather was too crazy for her!

"It seems you underestimated the Grand Line. You haven't moved the rudder in a while. Are you sure you're headed in the right direction?" the woman mocked.

"What do you mean? I just checked the log pose a min-"

Nami could be heard screaming from outside.

* * *

Zoro yawned. That was such a nice nap.

He looked around the ship to see everyone lying down.

"Hey! Even though the weather is nice, it's not good to have everyone sleeping!" he turned to face Nami.

"I hope you're not lost."

Everyone looked up from their tired positions to glare at Zoro.

How dare he fall asleep and do nothing?!

Zoro walked over to the two passengers.

"You must be thinking some evil thoughts right now." he knelt next to them.

"What are your names?"

"Mr. 9." "Ms. Wednesday."

"Your names reminded me of something when I first heard them."

The two agents began to sweat. How could this guy know of their secret organization?! It must be a fluke!

Luffy stayed quiet as he heard Zoro pondering. He didn't want to tell any of them about Miss All-

"Never mind about that!" Nami smacked Zoro in the head.

"We've been trying to wake you up for so long! You slept while we all worked hard!"

"What?!" Zoro was getting pissed. He wouldn't be talked down to by Nami!

* * *

Some time later, Zoro held his head in immense pain.

Nami was too strong...

* * *

"I wish all of those brave warriors a good night."

The Straw Hats had partied at Whiskey Peak as soon as they arrived.

Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday had taken off before they docked.

The town had been over joyous to treat the Straw Hats, and they had accepted their hospitality.

Nami and Zoro had given a few people liver failure.

Sanji didn't know how many women had slept with him, but he might have to see a doctor soon.

Ussop was passed out in a corner. Being a lightweight, he couldn't down even one drink.

Luffy had over eaten. The food had all run out as he defeated all the chefs.

They had to force him to drink alcohol. He seemed out of it as he laid on the floor.

"I'm going to be the Pirate King..." he would mutter every few minutes.

* * *

Mr. 8 had to tell his comrades something important.

The man they had just caught was their ticket to more funds!

Though, they would have to use all of it to purchase food. That captain had eaten everything.

* * *

"100 bounty hunters? Very well. I shall be your opponent!"

Zoro wasn't fooled for a second. He faked being passed out.

Well, the first hour or so wasn't fake, but he wouldn't let anyone know that.

He looked down at all the agents. They had planned on taking his crew in alive for their bounty.

Luffy's bounty, but there was no way Zoro would allow them to capture any of them.

He smirked as the man with the curls turned everyone's attention to a bunch of gravestones on the mountain.

Zoro took this opportunity to surprise them all.

* * *

Zoro's swords sensed the upcoming fight.

Kitetsu couldn't wait! Finally, blood would be spilt!

Its bloodlust was palpable.

Yubashiri felt excited. It hadn't been in a fight for a long time.

Stupid boring corner.

Wado was calm as ever.

It would do its best to please its master.

"Let's try Yubashiri first!" Zoro drew Yubashiri from its sheath.

Rushing through all of his enemies, he noticed Yubashiri was extremely light.

Yubashiri was pleased. Its owner had tremendous skill.

Zoro drew Kitetsu.

Kitetsu couldn't contain its excitement! It wanted to cut everything!

Zoro could barely hold back against the person who had snuck behind him with a stone mace. He tried to bring the mace down on Zoro.

Zoro swung Kitetsu.

Kitetsu cut right into the stone and through the person.

He watched as the man was split into two pieces.

The cut was so clean, no blood had actually spewed out for a second.

Looking at Kitetsu, he noticed that even if the cut was really clean, the blade had become stained with blood.

This sword was going to be troublesome. A sword that cut through whatever its wielder wished to cut.

He continued to cut through many of the opponents, trying his best to not kill anyone.

He was suddenly assaulted from behind.

Zoro was shoved to the ground as a fist came crashing down into his head.

Fissures formed from the amount of force that had been used.

* * *

The other agents were shocked.

Roronoa Zoro stood still with Ms. Monday in his right hand. She was struggling as much as she could, but they all noticed that it was a losing battle.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked. A pressure had started to push down on everyone.

"Where did your strength go?" Ms. Monday dropped to the ground as foam started to escape her mouth.

He looked at the other agents. Zoro's eyes were glowing and they could swear a demon had formed behind him.

"I'll just let you know that my fighting is different than my playing." he informed them as he drew all three swords.

They begun to question if this man was the actual captain.

* * *

"Steel Bat Ultimate Technique!"

Mr. 9 swung one of his metal bats at Zoro.

'His swords would break if he were to block this!' thought Mr. 9.

He was surprised when Kitetsu cut through the bat and into his arm, nearly tearing it off.

* * *

Kitetsu was not pleased. Those bats were weak opponents.

Zoro stood there surprised.

Kitetsu had just cut through metal.

He knew it wasn't luck, but it also wasn't skill.

Kitetsu was just that sharp. He still needed more training if he wanted to cut through steel.

* * *

"Look at my body carefully!"

Zoro was confused. Why the hell was she exposing that weir-

"Confusing Dance!"

Zoro's head began to hurt.

The attack was just too stupid! Even for him!

Ms. Wednesday got on her pet bird, Carue.

"Prepare to die, Roronoa Zoro!"

She rushed towards him, but the bird ran the wrong way.

Zoro was tired of the stupid moves. There was a limit.

After he heard a crash, he turned away.

* * *

"If you move, your important friend will die!"

Zoro turned again to see Ms. Wednesday holding a sword to his captain.

"That's good, Ms. Wednesday!" Mr. 8 shouted, "Just hold him there!"

"Your journey ends here, Roro-"

Luffy took a bite out of Carue.

"No! Carue!" the duck began to run away, Luffy attached to it.

'This is too much.' Zoro thought as he jumped towards Mr. 8.

He didn't have a chance to scream as Wado cut him.

Zoro tended to use Wado more as it didn't seem to kill anyone.

Unlike a certain other blade that he had.

* * *

Zoro sat on top of a building.

He watched as there seemed to be a falling out between some of them.

Ms. Wednesday was a princess...or something. Zoro didn't really care.

"Oh?! Ms. Wednesday is a princess?"

Zoro couldn't stop the sweat drop that rolled down his face as he watched Mr. 9 bow ridiculously towards her. His arm still bleeding severely.

He watched one of the newcomers launch a booger towards the prostrate Mr. 9.

The booger shot forward and exploded next to him. The aim was off due to the booger not being aerodynamic.

He seemed to become unconscious. Or dead. Zoro couldn't tell. There was way too much blood.

Mr. 8 grabbed onto his foot. Zoro hadn't noticed him climbing the building.

"Please, sir! I've seen your ability! You must help us!" he pleaded, "We will award you greatly!"

"Reward? Okay! How about 1 billion belli?"

Zoro began to sweat. He knew that voice,

Nami had woken up. Or was she awake the entire time?

* * *

She waited just for this moment. To seize as much treasure as she possibly could.

The man had tried to resist, but she knew better. He cared too much about that girl.

He agreed in some way to get the money for them.

It seemed like a princess needed rescuing, and she knew just the person for the job.

"Go, Zoro!"

"Why should I have to go?!"

"I recall a certain someone needed a large amount of money that I kindly loaned to."

"It was only 100 thousand belli! And you charged me with 300% interest! Plus, I didn't even use the money!"

"Yeah, but you agreed. Are you a man that doesn't keep his words?" she watched as Zoro suddenly froze.

Gotcha.

"Now, go get them!" Nami cheered as she watched Zoro relent and trudge off towards the booger launching man.

"You won't die peacefully!" he shouted back at her.

That money would be hers!

* * *

Luffy awoke to the sound of screaming.

'It was just a dream!' he thought as he rushed to stand up, his bloated belly getting in the way.

He could still hear some screaming, so maybe it wasn't all a dream.

Luffy noticed a lot of people that had been cut. Some of them were actually dead. Blood stained the walls of the nearby buildings. Pools of it were scattered throughout the area.

_The scientists cut into his flesh and took samples._

Luffy shook his head wildly as he tried to rid himself of the memories.

_"Devil Fruit eaters seem to mature early." one of them said, "This one's body seems to be already that of an adult's."_

_"Oh? That means we could do more experiments. Is that project still going on?"_

Luffy wanted the voices to stop! His skin turned white and his clothes began to sink into his body. His body absorbed the excess weight from all the food he had eaten, making his muscles stand out even more.

Luffy fell to his knees, arms on the ground and his head held low.

_"Which one?"_

_"The Genesis Project."_

The name brought forth terrible memories as Luffy remembered them taking more of him away. Cutting and ripping into his body. Needles jabbing inside of him to drain his essence away. Straps covered his arms and legs as he tried to scream, but they had put a paralyzing agent into his blood so they wouldn't have to deal with his screams.

His face disappeared, leaving only slits and a toothy sneer. Growls and hisses escaped from his throat as he attempted to pick himself up.

_"The one about breeding Devil Fruit users? That one certainly is, indeed it is!"_

_"Alright." Luffy could hear the maliciousness in the voice, "Prepare for extraction."_

The pain became unbearable! They were violating his body! Harvesting things they shouldn't take! Pulling his organs out and taking them apart for their twisted wants! Haphazardly stuffing them back in when they were done!

Luffy pulled his head up into the sky and let loose a terrible howl into the night's air.

He hated getting cut! No more!

He would stop the cutting!

The devil lumbered forward, having only the most basic thoughts of protecting itself.

It soon found a swordsman fighting with some other people. His swords gleamed as they reflected the moonlight, catching the deep pits the devil called eyes.

The devil hunched down, preparing to strike.

They would all pay with pain!

* * *

Zoro had to block the white beast that had suddenly appeared, using Kitetsu to prevent the beast from eviscerating with its claws.

"What the hell?!" Zoro shouted as the thing's hand was pushing him back even though Kitetsu was pressed against it.

He could sense the hatred within the beast, but its aura seemed familiar.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see everyone in the area pass out.

Only he and the beast had remained standing.

'This is going to be difficult.'

Zoro was thinking as he put on his bandana. The beast began to roar and it pushed Zoro a few feet back by applying force to the blade.

'I might die to this thing.'

The beast's hand had suddenly shot forward, claws outstretched trying to grab Zoro's head. Zoro could hear the wind screeching as the claws cut through the air. Zoro used Yubashiri to parry the hand, sending it to the side.

The force behind the hand was too much and Zoro had miscalculated. The claws ripped into his side, blood spilling from the 4 new cuts he sported.

'Now there's no mistake.'

Zoro moved his head to the side and watched as Wadō impaled the hand. The beast screaming in the background as the blade cut into its skin. Zoro had expected blood, but watched as the sword cleanly cut through the thing's hand.

'This thing is Luffy and he's trying to kill me.'

Zoro didn't know why Luffy was attacking him, but didn't have any time to think.

The beast rushed forward, stretching the claws on the impaled head to try to stab Zoro's head.

Zoro jumped back. Bringing his arms up on opposite sides of his body. The beast's hand returned to it and it held its arms behind it as it rushed forward.

"Oni...!"

The beast stretched its arms forward, palms preparing to break Zoro's swords.

"...Giri!"

They met half way. The force almost sent Zoro flying as he felt the thing's hands slam into his stomach.

He began to run on instinct as soon as his eyes met its. The abyss that greeted his sight forcing Zoro to lose conscious thought.

* * *

Nami woke up after she had passed out.

Her ears were ringing, she felt cold, and her head felt like it split open.

Holding a hand to her head, she stood up.

It seemed everyone had taken a dirt nap, as everyone in the area was currently unconscious.

There was one figure that was standing though. His swords stained with blood.

Nami had to hold back a scream. The sight had terrified her.

Zoro stood over a sleeping Luffy, half dead.

* * *

He barely made it out alive.

The beast was uncoordinated in its attacks. It seems the inebriation Luffy suffered from the alcohol applied to it as well as many of its attacks missed.

He couldn't move. Everything hurt.

Nami could be heard screaming. She must have seen him.

At the sound of the scream, Zoro willed himself to move.

He sheathed his swords and looked around.

It seemed more people were getting up.

There was less than there used to be, but Zoro didn't notice.

He had lost consciousness after he had made sure nothing would hurt Luffy.

* * *

Luffy woke up to blood falling on his face.

"Zoro!"

Zoro stood over him. Blood seemed to fall from every corner of his body.

"Luffy!"

"Nami!" Luffy shouted, "Go get help! Zoro's hurt!"

Luffy got up as he looked Zoro over. He had many cuts on his body and one really bad bruise on his abdomen.

His previous wounds were not even healed yet and he had sustained so much damage.

* * *

Luffy, Nami, and Ms. Wednesday sat around in a circle while a sleeping Zoro could be heard snoring nearby.

They discovered that most of the cuts were superficial, as Zoro was very skilled in dodging blades.

He was not so lucky with blunt force as the bruise was actually bad.

Ms. Wednesday had explained she was actually Nefertari Vivi, the princess of a kingdom called Alabasta.

Luffy didn't really care. He saw a cool looking otter next to a vulture. They seemed pretty neat.

That's right," Vivi began, "No matter how good you are, you can't compare to Crocodile, one of the seven warlords of the sea!"

Luffy turned to see Nami frozen in fear. Her mouth open in disbelief.

Vivi had her hands to her mouth, as if she had spoken something blasphemous.

The otter and the vulture turned to look at each other before taking off.

Luffy laughed. It was so cool! He heard Nami crying in the background.

Looks like things were going to get even more interesting!

* * *

Miss All Sunday had never expected any of this to happen.

She witnessed the celebration the bounty hunter town of Whiskey Peak threw for the Straw Hats.

She thought it was cute that Navigator-chan and Roronoa Zoro had faked being passed out.

It had fooled all of the bounty hunters.

Luffy ate everything in the town, but she could tell he was still hungry.

It disturbed her a bit to see him eying some of the people around him.

She hoped he wasn't cannibalistic. That would be a bit scary, even for her.

Long Nose-kun had the misfortune to drink alcohol. He couldn't withstand too much of it and he had passed out.

Cook-san had slept with twenty women, an impressive amount.

He would have to see a doctor about that rash though. If he didn't, parts might fall off.

Zoro had taken out many of the bounty hunters by himself.

The difference between him and them was just too great.

She was a bit surprised when Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine showed up.

Had it already been that long? She didn't realize that much time had passed since she had revealed Vivi's secret.

They must have moved pretty fast. The invisible presence of Mr. 0 had that effect on most.

The most surprising thing, however, was Luffy.

She paused in her musing to order Banchi to head out to sea.

He had woken up and his devil had come out screaming.

That must have been one bad nightmare.

Miss All Sunday felt the pressure he had forced upon her on Syrup Village, but it seemed weaker.

It felt like it had recognized her and didn't effect her as much.

She couldn't help but sigh as Vivi revealed who Mr. 0 was.

Looks like they would have to be enemies.

She turned and couldn't stop the frown that had formed as she stared at Luffy.

The idea of being enemies didn't appeal to her.

Banchi continued to swim out to sea. He seemed to not care about the events around him.

* * *

**As always, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think!**


	9. Betting on the Feeling Named Hope

**Here's the next chapter everyone! Hope you enjoy!**

**I felt really good about the beginning, but as I got closer to the end, I realized something important.**

**I really don't like the parts that I think are boring! But I'll try my best to write as good as I can! Even if it's boring to me, I'll try to make it entertaining to you all!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

He and Ussop were enjoying a nice quiet night for once.

Sleeping on land was a lot different than sleeping on a boat.

No waves to lull you to sleep, no bumping into something, no Moss Head or shitty rubber captain snoring.

It was nice.

Until someone dragged his leg and rammed him through the wall.

"Let go of my leg, Luffy! What's wrong with you?!"

"My nose!"

Luffy continued to drag the two.

"Hey! That hurts, Luffy! You're going to break my leg!"

"My nose is breaking!"

Sanji's head hit some rocks.

"Dammit, Luffy! Stop dragging me!"

"Oh Gods! The pain! My nose!"

* * *

"Alright! We're here!" Luffy turned around.

Sanji bled from the head. A line of blood could be seen coming from where his hidden eye was. Bumps were abundant.

Ussop's nose was bent in several directions. His nostrils were bleeding. His pants were dirty from when he had passed out and was dragged across the bumpy, stony road.

"Hey! Stop sleeping! We have to go!" Luffy tossed them in the sea.

The nerve! After he had gone all the way to bring them to the ship!

They should thank him when they come back.

"Carue?! Carue?! Where are you?!" Vivi screamed into the night.

"We can't search for him right now!" Nami yelled, "You'll have to leave him behind!"

"Are you talking about the big bird? He's right here." Zoro called out from the Going Merry. He had just raised the anchor.

Both girls looked to see Carue waving at them.

"He got here before me." Zoro had gotten to the boat first. Nami had to look for Carue with Vivi.

They began looking for him half a hour ago.

They needed to leave now!. Baroque Works was after them with its many many soldiers.

* * *

Miss All Sunday sat on Banchi as she looked at the ship she had just destroyed.

Mr. 8 was a lucky man. He still lived.

He thought he could trick her with some dolls and painting Ms. Wednesday's spiral suit on his body.

She felt a tinge of disappointment.

The Straw Hats had made her soft. She pushed his body onto a piece of debris and watched it float away.

This was the best she could do. Only his luck could save him now.

She looked over at the Going Merry and remembered the note that Mr. 13 had given her.

It told her to lead the princess straight to Crocodile. He wanted to see her, personally.

Miss All Sunday suppressed a shudder. The man was cruel sometimes.

She began to smile though. She would get to see her favorite group of people up close for the first time in a while.

* * *

The Going Merry drifted away from Whiskey Peak. Away from the many agents that would soon arrive.

"Why do we have to hurry?! There are so many cute girls back there!" Sanji couldn't help but itch his nether regions.

Luffy better recruit a doctor soon, or else he would have one less male crew mate.

"We got free food and drinks! Well, we had free food till Luffy ate it all, but it was safe!" Ussop couldn't understand why they had to leave.

"Can you explain the situation to them?" Zoro asked Nami. He was still hurting from his fight with Luffy.

"Sure thing!" Nami said, a bit too enthusiastic.

"Nami-swan! You know what we're talking about, right?!"

"Nami! Listen to reason!"

The two were then beaten till they were unconscious.

Luffy felt that they had deserved it.

They didn't thank him for his hard work.

* * *

"This is a pretty thick mist..." Nami couldn't see what was in front of the Going Merry. She hoped that they weren't in danger.

"Careful of the rocks." She heard a feminine voice call out to her. "You're so lucky I found you."

She turned to see a woman wearing purple cowgirl clothing sitting on the railing. She was smiling slightly.

"Oh?! It's you!"

"Ah! Miss All Beautiful Sunday! I missed you!"

"Who's that?! How'd she get here?!"

"What? Rocks?! Quickly, turn th-"

"Don't worry, Navigator-san. I took the liberty of turning the ship already."

Zoro had his hand on Wado. He didn't trust her. How long had she been following them?

"Hey! Were you going to eat Laboon?" Luffy appeared right next to her. He sat down on the railing as well.

She looked over at him and hid her surprise. She didn't expect him to get so close.

_Hot sticky breath landed on her face as she was held down to the ground. _

_She looked up to see the most terrifying eyes she had ever seen. _

_They peered into her soul, as if judging her. _

_A sudden naked feeling overtook her. She couldn't hide anything from the creature! She was completely vulnerable! _

_It began to try to break her will! She felt it creep inside her as it almost broke her!_

Miss All Sunday remembered that day, but managed to control herself.

She had to remind herself that event wasn't the last time she had been face to face with Luffy.

"I personally was not going to eat Laboon. That mission was assigned to your friend, Ms. Wednesday some time ago. Or, should I say, Nefertari Vivi?"

"You're Miss All Sunday! How did you find us?!"

"Oh..." She looked over at Luffy, "I've been around for quite a while."

"You've been following us since Orange Town, haven't you?" Luffy asked.

"What?! When did you meet her?!" Nami couldn't believe it. She's been following them since that long ago?!

"We met her right after we left." Zoro answered her.

"How come I didn't see you?!" This was too strange for Nami.

"You were a bit preoccupied at the moment. I stopped you from interfering."

"You mean you're the one that tied me up?!"

Miss All Sunday shrugged. "In a way."

"You know her, Vivi?" Ussop was beginning to get annoyed. He didn't understand what was happening.

"She's the partner to Mr. 0! Crocodile!"

"Oh...is she a bad person?"

"She's also the one that told Crocodile about me, isn't that right, Miss All Sunday?!"

"She helped us out though." Confusion began to overtake Luffy.

"Don't worry about that, Monkey D. Luffy. I was just interested in what you would do."

"What do you want from us?!" Vivi was scared. Miss All Sunday seemed to have always been around.

It seemed there was no escape for them.

"I've felt that you've all worked so hard to get to where you are now." Miss All Sunday had kept her small smile on the entire time.

"So...you're a good person?"

"Not entirely, though I have helped a bit in your adventures."

"Oh yeah! Thank you for leading us to the Conomi Islands! We wouldn't have made it without you!"

Nami looked at Luffy as if he had grown a second head.

She led them to her?!

Miss All Sunday's expression never faltered.

"You're welcome. Now, I feel it's a very stupid thing you have done, Princess. Being Baroque Work's enemy is not favorable for you."

Vivi stood still.

"Are you going to kill me?" She paled.

Miss All Sunday was known to be one of the best assassins in the company.

That's why she was partnered with the Boss.

"I haven't received orders to do such a thing." Miss All Sunday chose to not tell her that she was ordered to lead her to Crocodile.

She began to think up a plan. One that would serve Crocodile and save their lives.

"I can give you an Eternal Pose to Alabasta."

"What?!" Vivi couldn't believe that she would do that.

"I have worked with these, "Straw Hat Pirates". Would it not make sense if I were to continue to help them?"

Nami and Zoro could tell something was wrong.

She wasn't telling them the truth.

"It will allow you to skip a few islands. The next one would be Little Garden. This way, you'll arrive in Alabasta sooner."

Miss All Sunday turned towards Luffy and took his hat off his head.

"Wouldn't you want that, Rubberman?"

Luffy stared at her hard.

Miss All Sunday could tell he felt anger, but also confusion.

He couldn't tell if she was a good person or a bad person still.

"Here." She handed him the Eternal Pose to Nanimonai Island.

Hopefully, they would follow it away from Alabasta. That way, they wouldn't have to fight Crocodile.

That way, they could still hold on to their lives.

"...I think it's a good idea, Luffy." Nami commented, "She has helped us so far, so why would she betray us?"

Zoro knew she had forced herself to say that. Nami was probably not going to follow the Eternal Pose.

Vivi couldn't tell what was going on! Some of these people already knew who she was?

"Hey! Wait a second! We can't just trust the words of a stranger!" Ussop finally spoke up. He didn't know what to make of the situation, as he had never even met this lady.

"Of course we can!" Sanji yelled, "She helped us before, I'm sure she would help us again, isn't that right, mademoiselle?" Sanji swooned at Miss All Sunday.

"Don't worry about that." Luffy said.

The breaking of glass reached everyone's ears as Luffy broke the Eternal Pose.

Miss All Sunday's smile had lowered a bit.

It was a risky gamble at best. She knew Luffy would object for some reason.

"You don't get to decide where we go." Luffy said with a straight face.

"I want to go to wherever I want to go to have as many adventures as I can."

Miss All Sunday couldn't help but sigh.

It was such a Luffy answer.

"That's a pity." She said as she got up.

Luffy got up as well and raised his hand toward her head.

_His white hand was clamped on her throat. _

"_Don't touch my hat." He squeezed a little. It was meant more for intimidation._

_She would be lying if she said it didn't work at least a little._

He grabbed his hat off of hers and looked into her eyes.

"I don't mind strong willed people like you." she whispered as she took a few steps back towards Banchi.

She couldn't stay for much longer. Luffy was already beginning to make her feel weird again.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

The rest of the crew stared at them with mixed reactions.

Nami, Vivi, and Sanji didn't even know he was invited to whatever organization she belonged to.

Ussop was completely lost.

Zoro said nothing, as he knew what Luffy's answer would be.

It was the same one he had given them.

"Only if I get to be the boss." Luffy replied.

"Fufufufu...you do realize that you would be partnered with me then?"

"Oh, is that so?"

Sanji clenched and grinded his teeth loudly.

It sounded like this raven haired beauty was flirting with his stupid shitty rubber captain!

And Luffy didn't do anything! What a waste!

* * *

Miss All Sunday got on her turtle.

"Let's go, Banchi."

"Wow! What a cool turtle!" Luffy and Ussop enthused.

She giggled.

Looks like she would have to move to Plan B.

If she couldn't convince them to go away from Alabasta, it looked like she had to "lead" them there.

The future looked like it would hold some fun times.

"First destination." She said to herself as she watch them drift away.

She couldn't help but wonder what the mysterious feeling was.

It had been present when she had been near him while he was sleeping.

Was it affection? Companionship?

The feeling was not known to Ms. All Sunday.

But she was sure she felt connected to him in some way. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

Vivi sank to her knees.

"I just don't know what that woman is thinking..."

"Don't worry," Zoro decided to try to help her.

"There's one person on this ship like that as well." He nodded his head towards Luffy who was already digging in his nose.

Vivi couldn't help but sweat. Who were these people?!

"Can anyone explain what's going on here?!" Ussop couldn't take it anymore! He was part of the crew too!

"Sanji! It's morning! Breakfast time!"

"You shitty gomu! I'm so jealous!"

"Hello?! Can anyone tell me what just happened?!"

Ussop was frustrated, but was a little freaked out.

He thought the woman's eyes were brown when he first saw her. So why were they sky blue when she had left?

* * *

They were on their way to Little Garden. The place where Miss All Sunday said they would have to go to.

"Hey! Anyone want my special drink?!"

"Just bring it!" Ussop, Luffy, and Zoro exclaimed as they had gotten thirsty.

"Quack!" Carue wanted some as well.

"Is it alright for you to just be doing this?!" Vivi couldn't take it! These people were crazy.

She turned to Nami, the only sensible one on the ship.

Nami sipped her special drink while she held one out to Vivi.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

"If something were to happen, I'm sure everyone would work hard because they don't want to die. Here's your drink."

"They're too carefree." Vivi took the offered drink. She looked to the other members of the crew.

"Hey...you look good." Sanji told Carue as he watched him slurp on the special drink.

Carue choked a bit. He had never gotten a compliment like that before.

"Just slow down and eat it."

"Hey, Ussop. Make me a fishing pole." Luffy was bored. And hungry.

"Fishing? That sounds like fun." Zoro wanted in. He was also bored and hungry.

"Sure! I think I can make you a great fishing pole!" Ussop was always glad to show off his skills.

"Being on this ship seems to drain your worries, doesn't it?" Nami said with a smile.

Vivi couldn't help but return one of her own.

"Yeah...I guess you're right." She said as she looked at the ocean.

She felt that she would have to explain to Sanji that Carue was a male duck.

* * *

They had finally arrived at Little Garden.

It was a huge forest that had two white bone-shaped mountains in the distance. Noises from all sorts of animals could be heard.

This was a forest that embodied "survival of the fittest".

"Is that a gecko?"

"No, Luffy. It's a bird. See, Nami-swan? This is just a normal forest."

The bird turned out to be a horrible, reptilian, feathered monster that screeched loudly as it got close to the Going Merry.

It was also twice the size of the ship.

It flew by and they watched something even bigger than it catch and consume it.

"I have decided that we won't go down there." Ussop spoke up. It sounded like a reasonable plan.

"Sanji!"

"Yes, Luffy?"

"Lunchbox."

"You got it." Sanji couldn't wait for the rubberman to leave so he could enjoy his time with Nami-swan!

"Can I go with you too?" Vivi looked like she was actually excited.

"Sure! You can! Sanji! Two lunchboxes!"

"What?! You too?! Don't go down there!" Nami tried to convince Vivi to reconsider.

"Don't worry, Nami!" Vivi smiled, "I'll have Carue down there to protect me."

Carue's face morphed into one of extreme terror.

"It looks like he doesn't want to go with you..." It seemed Vivi had her mind made up.

Ussop and Nami complimented Vivi's bravery as she walked away with Luffy and Carue.

They were actually more worried that she had left with Luffy.

Sanji had only given him two lunchboxes.

"You know what?" Zoro got up, "I think I'll go hunting."

"Oh! Zoro! We ran out of food. Could you go get some and bring it back?" Sanji asked politely.

Zoro would be doing him a favor if he did this for h-

"I get it. Since you're so incapable of doing it yourself, you need the superior me to go and do it for you." Zoro shrugged, "I understand."

Nami and Ussop began to cry as the two got into a fight and then left, claiming whoever got the most meat would win.

Ussop suddenly shot up and moved a little away from Nami.

"Oh!" He exclaimed,"I can't rely on you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?! I should be the one saying that!"

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched on from afar.

This island had many large lifeforms. The Straw Hats would have to be careful if they didn't want to die.

Speaking of Straw Hats, she formed eyes near where she felt their presences.

Luffy had taken to climbing a long necked dinosaur, resting on its head. Vivi was with him and Carue followed.

Roronoa Zoro had found a triceratops. He appeared to be saying something so she formed an ear nearby.

"Oh? Can we eat this?"

Dismissing the ear, she saw Cook-san run into a two legged, large carnivorous dinosaur.

Little did the dinosaur know, eating Cook-san would probably kill it.

Sensing an even larger life form, she formed an ear and an eye on the Going Merry.

Her vision was greeted by the sight of a giant wielding a great axe.

Navigator-chan and Long Nose-kun were scared. They held each other in fear and could only stare at the giant.

"I asked ya' if ya' got any rum?" The giant asked.

"Yes! We have some!" They started to run towards the kitchen in fear.

They must have thought if they had given him some rum, he wouldn't kill and/or eat them.

The giant screamed in pain.

A dinosaur was biting his ass.

The two Straw Hats cried in desperation as they watched the giant decapitate the dinosaur in one swing of his axe.

Miss All Sunday couldn't help but laugh at them. It seemed like they were doomed.

Focusing on another eye, she saw Luffy get eaten by the dinosaur he was on.

A different giant appeared and cut its head off. Luffy fell out of the top half of the now decapitated dinosaur.

It seemed like they were talking and the giant led them away, further into the forest.

She couldn't help but notice a white block sitting in the middle of the forest.

'Looks like Mr. 3 is here. That would mean Ms. Goldenweek is with him.' She thought.

Mr. 3 was a bit pompous and arrogant due to his Devil Fruit.

She didn't mind Ms. Goldenweek though. Sometimes, they would get together and drink tea.

A volcano erupted and the two giants could be seen rushing towards each other.

The one that saved Luffy had a sword and a shield, while the other one held an axe and a shield.

They fought ferociously and without regard for their own lives.

The fight ended when they smashed their shields into their opponent's face.

The giants laid on the floor, laughing. It seemed like they were good friends. Despite the fact they had attempted to murder each other a few moments ago.

She wondered how Straw Hats would react when they learned that the log pose would take a year to set?

* * *

Nami wanted to scream and tear her hair out.

She was considering just finding Luffy and killing him.

He had destroyed their only way of getting off this horrible island.

Something exploded in the distance. She wouldn't be surprised if this island had little animals that could explode as well. It already had dinosaurs and giants! Why not exploding rats?!

It didn't help that it was unusually hot and her head hurt horribly!

The eruption of a volcano could be heard.

Nami groaned in pain as she watched Ussop ask Broggy if it was alright to be fighting so soon.

"Gebabababa! It's alright! We were both injured in that last fight!"

Broggy seemed to think that he and Dorry were evenly matched at the moment.

* * *

Luffy stood panting over the giant named Dorry.

They were just having a blast eating and drinking when suddenly an explosion occurred within Dorry.

He looked really hurt, but Luffy had to knock him out.

His wounds would lead him to death if he were to continue.

Luffy learned a long time ago that pride is useless.

You couldn't eat it. You couldn't become warm with it.

It didn't provide any company, and it didn't make the pain go away.

Luffy only had pride in his family. His own had been stripped away long ago.

He knew Broggy would be upset, but he hoped he understood that someone had gotten in the way of their duel.

Sniffing the air, Luffy set out to try to find who had done this.

* * *

"Huh? Hey!" Zoro walked over.

"Nami! How'd you get here? I was just wondering how to get back to the ship!" Zoro gave her a disarming smile.

He needed her help.

"Hey? You okay, Na-"

Zoro was then trapped within a white bubble.

* * *

"Hey! You're running too fast!" Nami chased after Ussop.

They had left for the ship, but they couldn't get through the forest.

After looking for Luffy for a while, they got scared and began to make a mad dash to the ship.

'Ussop is way too fast!' Nami thought as he became a dot in the distance.

"Luffy?! Is that you?!" Nami saw Luffy standing near a tree with his arm held up in the air.

"This is so great! I'm was so sc-"

Nami didn't get to finish as she was also trapped within a white bubble.

* * *

"We're in big trouble! Nami was just eaten by a dinosaur!" Ussop screamed.

He couldn't believe it. One second, she was behind him, the next, she was gone!

"Wait a minute." Vivi tried to calm him down, "Just calm down."

"How can I calm down?! I just saw my friend eaten by a dinosaur!"

"You said she disappeared. Did you check around the area?"

"How could I check the surrounding area?! I'm scared!"

Vivi sighed. This was going to take a while.

* * *

Broggy had done it.

Blood flew through the air. Gallons of it spilling on the forest floor below.

He had finally won, he thought as he watched Dorry's body fall to the ground.

The Gods of Elbaf favored him! Broggy!

So why could he not stop his tears! There was no victory to be had in this!

There was only sadness as he realized that he had killed his best friend. The only one he had been able to talk to constantly for more than 100 years.

He didn't notice the wax that pooled underneath him.

* * *

"Why don't you cry out for your owner?!"

Mr. 5 smacked Carue hard, his head flying to the side.

Carue said nothing. He didn't even want to open his beak.

"Do you want to get hurt?! Hurry up and call her!"

Ms. Valentine watched as Mr. 5 used a small explosive to harm Carue, the bird still refusing to make any sounds.

"...Very well." Mr. 5 took a booger out and took a few steps back to fling it at Carue.

He paused and looked to his side.

Luffy stood next to him. A blank look on his face as he stared at Mr. 5.

_A little white dog barked weakly as its life faded away. _

_It licked his hand. _

_It had fought for what it believed in and had lost everything. _

"Where di-"

A white fist buried itself in Mr. 5's face.

Luffy roared, a nightmarish look on his face.

He decided he didn't like these two very much, he thought as he watched Mr. 5 break through several trees.

* * *

"I feel like I'm a candle on a cake."

"Then you're a pretty scary candle, Zoro."

"How can you two joke like this?!" Vivi couldn't understand why Nami and Zoro acted they way they did.

She had been caught by Mr. 3 when he had tricked her in thinking she had found Carue.

Now they all stood under a giant candelabra, slowly being turned into candles.

"Die for the sake of art!" Mr. 3 ranted as he was in awe of his forming masterpiece.

Mr. 3 and Ms. Goldenweek stood in front of them.

They all felt ashamed that they had been caught by this freak.

The candle service technique was slowly robbing them of their ability to move.

Soon, they would be covered in candle dust and they would suffocate.

Broggy laid next to them. His hands and feet had been pinned down by wax knives.

"I got a plan."

"Really?! What is it?!"

"I'm going to cut my legs off." Zoro didn't want to fall to a guy like Mr. 3. He would rather kill himself.

"What?! Are you insane?!"

"I really don't want to die to these pieces of trash." He drew Kitetsu and Yubashiri.

He could feel Kitetsu's bloodlust drop, but it would cut whatever he wished to cut.

Yubashiri's aura was the same as always. Unflinchingly calm.

"Gebabababa! Thank you, young man!" Broggy said from his position, "You're right! It would be shameful to die to men like these!"

"Then let's all work together now!" Zoro raised his swords and moved them above his legs.

Nami turned away. It was too much for her! She didn't want to cut her beautiful legs off!

"I wish to fight with you!" Vivi couldn't just give up! Zoro and Broggy were right!

It would be shameful to die to these guys.

"Alright!" Zoro shouted, "Here we go-!"

* * *

A loud crash sounded through the area and a white skinned monster with a straw hat came flying towards them. Carue and Ussop following it.

The monster paused as it looked at Mr. 3.

"_What's with the stupid looking fur clothing?" _

_"What the? How rude! This isn't fur clothing, this is my hair!" _

"Jeez, there's more of you?" He said as he looked at Mr. 3.

"Excuse me?!"

"Your hair looks so stupid."

"Just shut up!"

Ussop was really lucky that he had run into Luffy and Carue.

They stood above the broken bodies of Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine. They didn't move much, if not that, then not at all.

Now he had led them right to where the candle freak was keeping their family!

"Hey, you guys in trouble?" He heard Luffy ask.

"No," Answered Zoro, "Not really."

Blood was gushing from the wounds he had caused on his legs.

"There's a lot of blood coming from your legs, you know." Nami felt pain from just looking at them.

"That's right. I cut about half my legs off."

Vivi was shocked! Zoro didn't cry out in pain or anything! He was really strong!

She then noted that he had done it after Luffy had showed up.

Or he was just really stupid.

* * *

"Alright! We'll break that thing down!" Luffy shouted, "Even though I don't know what it is!"

Mr. 3 smirked. He knew he would win in the end.

"What are you doing?"

"In case we become candles, I'll look cool." Zoro posed with his arm outstretched with a sword in his hand.

"Can you do something about your legs? I hurt just looking at them."

"Then don't look at them."

"Mr. 3," Ms. Goldenweek spoke up, "They're not worried at all."

Mr. 3 turned to look at her while she was sitting down, eating some snacks.

"Don't say anything. You're the same as them."

Luffy took this moment to charge towards Mr. 3.

Mr. 3 turned to see this horrifying monstrosity coming for him.

"C-Candle Lock!"

The wax covered Luffy's feet, but he kept moving forward. He dropped down to the ground, feet in air and he stood on his hands.

"Gum Gum Spear!"

His legs shot out, hitting the tower and breaking the giant candelabra.

It came crashing down, but the captive Straw Hats were still becoming candles.

"What? I thought that would work." Luffy pouted. The wax on his legs were gone too.

Why did he always fight the tricky ones?

"Explosive Star!"

Something exploded on Mr. 3's face, sending him to the ground.

Luffy smiled.

At least he had some backup this time.

* * *

"I'm lucky that I have a cool pose." Commented Zoro. They were almost candles.

"You moron! That's not helping! Luffy! Please hurry!" Nami didn't want to be a candle.

If she was to be one, she didn't want to be next to Zoro.

Luffy brought his hands back as he prepared to break the candles.

"Gum Gum...!"

His attack was interrupted as a new feeling overcame him.

His arms returned and he just stood there staring at his dying crew mates.

"Luffy?! What's wrong?!"

"Luffy! Help us!"

"I don't feel like helping you."

His friends continued to scream at him for help, but he stood there, unmoving.

Ussop was harassed by Mr. 3 as Mr. 3 knew what was happening.

Vivi looked at the other agent who was just eating snacks on the ground.

"It's you, isn't it?" She asked her.

"Color trap," Ms. Goldenweek began to explain,"Black is the color of betrayal. He won't listen to his friend's words."

They looked at Luffy to see a sign painted underneath Luffy.

"Hey, Luffy, how did you manage to step on that?! I don't remember it being there!"

"The little girl must be really fast to have done that."

"Mr. Luffy! Don't step out of that mark!"

"I'm not going to listen to you."

Luffy stepped off of the mark and his eyes widened.

"Don't worry everyone! I'll save you!"

"But first, I just have to laugh!"

Luffy began to laugh hysterically and he didn't seem like he would stop anytime soon.

"Color trap. Yellow is the sign of laughter."

They couldn't see where the mark was. It must have been on his back.

Luckily, Ussop and Carue brushed against Luffy as Mr. 3 continued to chase them.

Mr. 3 decided to try to take Luffy out, but was punched in the face.

"You bastard!" Luffy was pissed as he looked at Ms. Goldenweek.

She still wore an impassive look on her face even as Luffy tried to bear down on her with the full force of his fury.

"Color trap. Red is the color of a target." She drew a red mark on the ground.

It took less than a second to draw, but Luffy was already running towards her, fully transformed.

Luffy ran up to her and tried to attack, but was dismayed to find that his fists went sailing straight into the ground where the red mark was.

He tried his best to not aim for it, but nothing would work. He began to beat on the ground to get rid of the mark, but the mark also made his blows weaker.

"Color trap." He heard behind him,"Yellow, the color of fun, mixed with Blue, the color of sadness makes Green, the color of peace."

He felt a mark on his back and his transformation receded.

Luffy sat down next to her and took a glass that she had offered him.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Luffy! Help us!" Nami was crying. They were going to die.

The other two didn't say anything. They knew that Luffy was helpless.

"See? I told you. You should have made a cool pose." Zoro felt good that he was right.

Even though they were going to die, at least he would still look good.

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched as Luffy began to look desperate.

"This...tea...delicious!" Even as he said those words, his voice was loud and strained.

He really was too weak to tricks.

She sighed.

Hopefully, no one would see this.

She formed a hand that displaced the paint on his back.

As she did this, she also concentrated to try to find Sanji.

If he could get there, things would improve.

She felt his presence and formed an eye.

Sanji was currently in the wax house talking on a Den Den Mushi. She wondered who he was talking to.

She looked back at Luffy.

He better be thankful for this.

* * *

Luffy stood up, surprising Ms. Goldenweek.

"What? But how did you-?"

"Get out of my way." Luffy's skin rapidly turned white,"I'm not going to let my friends die."

"Candle Champion!"

Luffy turned to see Mr. 3 cover himself in giant wax armor.

"This is the armor that beat a 42 million belli bounty pirate! You stand no chance! Ms. Goldenwe-"

Luffy hit him as hard as he could in his face. He was tired of the little girl's paintings.

* * *

Ussop realized that he could save his crew mates if he were to use fire to melt the candle around their bodies.

He quickly set up a rope covered in oil and lit it.

Hopefully, they wouldn't get too burned.

* * *

An inferno had engulfed the former candelabra.

Luffy couldn't even see his friends through the blaze.

"Zoro! Nami! Vivi! Are you okay?!" He shouted.

He saw Mr. 3 running away though and decided to follow. He would know pain for trying to hurt his friends!

Luffy ran for a while and came across a strange sight.

"I thought that you would follow me. Welcome to Candle Garden!"

He was surrounded by many wax figures that had been painted by Ms. Goldenweek to look like Mr. 3.

"Do you know which one is the real me?"

Luffy could still hear his voice. He thought it was a bit stupid.

"We are the top officers of Baroque Works! A man that uses instinct like you will never be able to find me!"

Instinct? Luffy closed his eyes and focused.

"Come closer if you dare!"

Luffy felt that he had found him. It was like he could sense where Mr. 3 was.

"I will stab your heart as soon as you turn your back to me!"

It probably didn't help that Luffy was also able to hear where his voice was coming from.

"Gum Gum Stamp!"

His foot landed in Mr. 3's face, causing the tree behind it to splinter.

"...How did you know where I was...?" Mr. 3 asked as he slowly lost consciousness.

"Instinct."

* * *

The Straw Hats, sans Sanji, watched with their hands to their ears as Broggy cried for his dead friend.

Luffy felt bad. He knew what it was like to cry for the dead. He had actually tried making friends where he had been trapped, but it was hard when you were full of drugs, starving, and they all were scared of him.

Ussop cried. It seemed the life of a brave sea warrior had times of loneliness.

The others just stared at the scene with a bit different emotions.

"He's crying too loud..."

"My ears are going to explode..."

"His tears look like waterfalls."

All of their eyes popped out when they saw Dorry suddenly appear.

After a bit of explanation, it turned out that the giants' weapons were far too old and had become blunt from all the fighting to have killed Dorry. Everything seemed alright, though Sanji was still absent.

* * *

Sanji stood over the dead corpses of two stupid animals that had attacked him.

One was some sort of otter in clothes and the other was a vulture with goggles.

This island really was weird.

"What's happening?" He could hear the voice of Mr. 0 through the Den Den Mushi, "What was that noise?"

"No! It was nothing! It turned out that they were still alive, but now they are 100% dead!"

There was silence on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

He had convinced Mr. 0 that he was Mr. 3 and that he had killed the Straw Hats.

'Nami would be so impressed!' Sanji began to fantasize.

"Still alive? You told me that they had died and you accomplished your mission. Did you lie to me?"

"Well, I can't help it if you feel that way. They were stronger than I thought, but don't worry! I broke their necks," He looked over at the two dead animals, "So there is no need to look for them anymore."

"Nevermind. Just head to Alabasta as soon as you can. Mr. 13 and Ms. Friday should have brought you an Eternal Pose to Alabasta." Sanji heard a disconnection occur.

Mr. 0 had hung up on him! He was no longer welcome in the shitty restaurant!

He took the Eternal Pose and left. There was no reason to stay there.

After walking for a bit, he saw two huge figures in the distance, but he was graced with the sight of two other figures.

"Nami-swan! Vivi-chan!" He called out with joy.

"And the other unimportant people."

* * *

The Going Merry was at sea, heading for Alabasta.

Nami felt really tired and it was still really warm.

But she was sure glad to be off that terrible Little Garden.

She looked at the two idiots, Luffy and Ussop.

Ussop had been inspired by the giants' strength and decided to go to Elbaf, land of the giants.

Luffy was just glad that they were all alright and danced around with him.

Sanji was preparing a meal for the two ladies. They had a lot of food now, so no need to ration.

Zoro was making the ship sway a little. He was in the back with a ton of weights. A literal ton of weights.

Nami wondered how they hadn't sank the Going Merry yet.

"Here, Vivi. You take the Eternal Pose for a bit. I'm going to go lie down."

"Ah! Sure, Nami! Feel free to go to the bedroom and get some rest."

Nami smiled as she heard that.

'Vivi is too kind' She thought as her head hit the deck.

At least they weren't on Little Garden anymore.

* * *

**Finally! That's done. I had so much trouble getting excited about this chapter.**

**Mr. 3 is really awesome in Impel Down, but absolutely lame here. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter everyone!**


	10. Befriending Monsters and Curing Nami

**Here's the next chapter everyone! I hope you all enjoy! **

**Chopper's my third favorite character. I hope I did him some justice in this chapter!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"Is Nami-swan going to die?!" Sanji cried.

They were currently in the women's quarters on the Going Merry. Nami laid in the bed with a wet cloth on her head. Luffy, Sanji, Ussop, Vivi, and Carue were with her. Zoro was outside, making sure no one would ambush them.

"She might be sick because of the weather." Vivi explained, though she was as nervous as the ones in the room. "The constant changes in the weather is known to cause this sickness. It's one of the toughest obstacles one faces on the Grand Line."

Luffy was worried. He would miss Nami if she died. Plus, if she dies, then chances are, they would all die.

Sanji continued his sobbing. He didn't know what he could do if Nami were to die.

"Don't you have anyone on board with medical knowledge?" Vivi asked.

Everyone except Carue and Sanji pointed at Nami.

Sanji just kept crying.

"How have you all survived for so long?!" Vivi sternly asked them.

"Pure dumb luck." "My awesome skills." "Nami-swan!"

"Sanji? Can't you just make Nami some meat? That's what makes me feel better."

"No, Luffy." Sanji stopped crying at the mention of food,"You're a bit special. Eating meat doesn't make one get better."

"I'm responsible for cooking Nami-swan and Vivi-chan delicious and nutritious meals." Sanji began to walk out.

"I give all the bad stuff to the rest of you."

"Hey, what kind of cook are you?" Ussop was going to check his food next time.

Sanji walked out. He had taken on a somber aura since everyone learned of Nami's sickness.

"Her fever is getting worse...if we don't find a doctor soon, we might lose Nami."

Ussop was shocked! She was this bad already?! They really needed medical attention now!

He couldn't help but notice that Nami looked almost as bad as his mother did when she had died.

Luffy frowned. This was bad.

He briefly considered trying to find Miss All Sunday for help. She was able to navigate, so she might be able to find them an island.

"We have to find a cure for Nami. That's the first thing we need to do." Luffy hid his eyes with his hat.

He didn't want to lose one of his friends.

"I don't think we have enough time for that." Nami spoke as she rose a little out of bed.

"Nami? You should rest, but what do you mean?" Vivi got closer. She wanted to make sure Nami wouldn't strain herself too much.

"Look in my desk drawer." Nami pointed towards it, "You'll find what I mean in the newspaper."

Vivi went over to the desk and opened the drawer. She pulled the newspaper that was in it out and read the headlines.

She read how many Alabastan troops had switched to a rebel faction. There was a civil war looming over the country.

"You see, Vivi? We can't wait any longer. I didn't show you because I didn't want you to worry."

Nami turned to face Luffy.

She remembered how he didn't want to show Gaiman the empty treasure chests. He didn't want to break his heart.

Nami hoped she didn't do the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, Nami." Luffy put a hand on her shoulder,"You're a very kind person."

Nami weakly smiled at Luffy as she felt how he had gently put his hand on her. It was different than how he usually was.

"Thanks, Luffy." She tried to get up, "Now, I better get up. That thermostat must be broken be-"

Luffy didn't let her stand.

"Luffy? Let go, please. How can I navigate from my bed?"

"No. You stay here."

Luffy could feel the heat from her shoulder. She was burning up.

"You're hurt at the moment. There's no need for you to get up."

"Bu-"

"No. If we need to navigate, I'm sure Vivi could do it." He looked over at Vivi, "Are you capable?"

Vivi couldn't say that she wasn't a great navigator. Luffy had hid his eyes from everyone, but she could see them.

He looked worried. This was the first time she had seen him like that.

* * *

Zoro sat on the railing outside. He had taken up navigation duties while Nami was sick.

They were currently headed in the right direction. He could tell they were by looking at that big cloud that floated in the horizon.

They just had to head towards it.

Vivi, Ussop, and Luffy came out from the women's quarters.

"Mr. Bushido! Are we headed in the right direction?" Vivi asked.

"Yeah, we are. We've been headed towards that cloud for a while now."

"What? Cloud? Are we headed in the direction the needle is point to?" They had given him the Eternal Pose.

He looked at the Eternal Pose in his hand. He forgot all about it. "It wasn't necessary."

"Stop and start heading south!"

"Nami?! You should be resting!"

"Sorry, Vivi. I couldn't just let you all follow Zoro's directional skills. Just hurry up and go south! There's something coming..." Nami held onto the door frame as she said this. She was too weak to do much now.

They had all listened to Nami. They did trust her more than they did Zoro.

A storm had just hit where they would have been if they had followed Zoro's directions.

Gratitude filled all of the Straw Hats. Nami had saved them again.

Vivi couldn't believe it! She didn't know anyone who was able to predict the Grand Line's weather patterns!

Nami was the best navigator she had ever seen!

Zoro didn't feel it though. They would have been better off following him.

* * *

A day had passed.

Nami couldn't stand anymore. She was mostly in a fever induced sleep.

"Aha! Mr. Snowman is completed!"

"Luffy! Don't you dare start another snow fight!"

Zoro was in the lookout post, searching for any land.

"Hey!" He suddenly called out to the two below.

"What is it, Zoro?" Luffy had just attacked Ussop's ice creations with a "Snowman Whip".

"Have any of you ever see a man standing in the middle of the ocean?"

"Have you gone insane, Zoro?" Ussop asked as he went to the side of the ship.

Luffy and Ussop just stared along with Zoro at the weird looking clown standing in the middle of the ocean.

A few minutes passed by.

"It's going to be cold today." The clown said.

"Alright, another weirdo." Ussop said, "Hey, Luffy? What sho-"

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

His fist hit the clown in the head, making him fall flat on the ocean.

The three Straw Hats continued to stare at the clown who had probably been knocked unconscious.

Suddenly, a ship emerged from the ocean.

The waves from it had forced the Going Merry to sway greatly.

Zoro held on for dear life. He was in a bad position if the ship were to move like it was.

* * *

"Hey! What happened?!" Sanji yelled as he came out.

He paused. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled a cigarette out and lit it.

"So," He took a puff and blew smoke out,"what's going on here?"

"We've been boarded." Luffy replied.

"I see." Sanji looked around.

Guns were pointed at every Straw Hat on the deck. Zoro had yet to come down from the lookout post.

He watched as some fat hippo started eating a steak on a knife.

Luffy was worried about Nami.

He thought she should hang out in the cold due to her high fever, but everyone said that was a stupid idea.

The fat hippo was talking, but he didn't want to pay attention. He had too much on his mind.

"..before I steal all your treasure, I'm a bit hungry."

The fat hippo took a bite out of the Going Merry.

Luffy went mad as he tore through the pirates the hippo had brought on board.

He shoved a bunch of people overboard into the freezing water with a "Gum Gum Scythe", his outstretched arms nearly clearing the deck.

Many of the agents also fell over, foam coming from their mouths as Luffy's terrifying presence was too much for them.

"Hm?" The hippo turned around.

The scariest monster he had ever seen had his arms stretched behind him.

"Gum Gum Bazooka!" The arms came forward and smashed him in the gut, the force making him fly away from the ship.

The pirates that had invaded them left in a hurry, carrying their fallen comrades with them. It looked like they were headed off to rescue their, most likely, drowning captain.

Sanji and Zoro stopped their attacks when they saw the hippo fly. There was no need to continue as the enemy lost the will to go against them.

* * *

"If we throw some water on her, would that help?"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Vivi and Sanji hit Luffy as hard as they could.

Luffy slumped to the floor. Vivi was just as scary as Nami was now.

They were currently sitting inside the women's quarters again. None of the Straw Hats wanted her to be alone.

Sanji went outside to be the lookout. He couldn't let his Nami-swan and Vivi-chan be in anymore danger.

Plus, he could be trusted more than Zoro could be.

He absently scratched at himself again. It was getting worse...

Any day now, he would probably be in a worse situation than Nami.

* * *

Nami woke up. She still had work to do!

She was about to remove her bed covers when she noticed something off.

Everyone besides Sanji was currently sleeping in the women's quarters.

Zoro was leaned against Carue as he snored.

Ussop had hunched himself near her desk. It was a bit warmer over there.

Vivi was laying on her bed, the lower half of her body was on the ground.

Luffy was laying near the wall, he was slumped over.

Judging by his position, he had been hit over there and he just fell asleep where he laid.

She couldn't get up. Nami decided to just try to sleep some more.

She couldn't push herself when her family was worried about her.

* * *

"Island?!" Luffy shouted.

He was still in the women's quarters with Zoro. They had decided to watch Nami as they weren't needed at the moment.

"Hey, Nami! Did you hear that?! There's an island! Maybe there's a doctor over there!"

Luffy fidgeted in his seat. He looked like he wanted to say more, but restrained himself.

"If you want to go look at it that badly, just go." Zoro told him.

In a flash, Luffy had run out of the room. Zoro just sighed.

'Looks like it's me and the witch.' He thought.

He looked at her face. She was sweating and appeared to be in pain.

Zoro was a swordsman and one of the top fighters in the Straw Hat Pirates. He was a force of nature!

Yet, he felt so weak when he looked at Nami. She was suffering and he couldn't do anything for her.

He gripped his swords tightly. At that moment, Zoro wished he had learned how to treat sick people.

* * *

"There's so much snow!" Luffy enthused, "I'm so happy!"

"Hey, Luffy, aren't you getti-"

Luffy tuned him out. All of this snow was so great!

"This is our village! We won't let you in! Just get out or else we'll shoot you!"

The Straw Hats met the local villagers. They didn't seem too welcoming.

"They just met us, but they act like they've hated us for hundreds of years or something..."

"Shut up!"

A bullet was fired and it almost hit Sanji.

He began to get angry. Nobody liked getting shot at.

"Wait! Sanji-san! Please don't get angry!" Vivi got in front of Sanji and began to hold him back.

She knew that he might've kill a few of them for doing that.

Vivi felt something hit her shoulder and she dropped to the ground. Raising a hand to it, she looked at the hand and discovered that blood had coated it.

Someone had shot her.

She thought that she was in shock, as she couldn't feel the pain, but she could certainly feel the fear.

Vivi focused on the fear of losing Nami and gained some courage.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She heard a monstrous roar and looked over at Luffy.

He stared at the crowd with his abyssal eyes. He had already transformed and stood there staring at the crowd.

Many of them actually got to their knees. Vivi could tell that they had done it due to the killing intent Luffy exuded.

It was almost enough to make her freeze in place.

"Wait! Don't fight them!" She tackled Luffy. He didn't budge an inch, but he started to look at her, some of his features coming back.

"If we fight them now, what do you think will happen to Nami?" She bowed down towards the villagers.

"Please, we won't go into your village. Our friend is sick."

Luffy looked at her impassively.

He slowly turned back to normal and bowed as well.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault."

The other Straw Hats didn't know what to feel.

They felt ashamed that their captain had to bow to these rude people!

But they also knew the circumstances Luffy was under. He couldn't start a fight.

Not with Nami so close to death.

"Please...call a doctor. Please help my friend."

It also unnerved them on how Luffy knew the word please.

This was more serious than they had thought. Luffy never used please.

One of the villagers stepped forward. He was the one that had warned them to go away.

"I'll lead you to the village. Just follow us."

"See, Luffy? They understood our plight." Vivi was glad.

She didn't know how much longer she could stay conscious. The bullet pained her.

"You did great, Vivi." Luffy replied.

He still had the impassive look on his face.

Even he didn't know why he had done this. He should have just torn the villagers apart for hurting Vivi.

But, she was his friend and she didn't want him to hurt them. Didn't mean he forgave them though.

* * *

Zoro looked at his feet.

"Um...they're cured. Right?"

He was staring at the scars he had gained by almost cutting his legs off.

The rest of the Straw Hats left to go to the village. Since he was still injured from Little Garden and Whiskey Peak, he had to stay behind.

Carue was with him. The bird didn't want to go.

"Alright!" Zoro got up. "I've got enough strength and will to swim in the winter!"

He took his jacket off and looked at the freezing water.

Without another word, he jumped in.

* * *

Miss All Sunday couldn't help but sigh as she watched Roronoa Zoro jump into the freezing ocean.

He must have fallen on his head a few times, but if he wanted to go in...

'He can go in.' She thought.

This was unexpected. To be here.

King Wapol used to rule this area when it was called Drum Kingdom.

Looks like it was just Drum Island now.

Not that it matters. She never liked Drum Kingdom.

They had built a Facility here, but due to the Doctor Hunt, it had been shut down.

Drum Facility was only built because of rumors of a monster.

Miss All Sunday hoped to see this fabled monster. It would be interesting.

* * *

The villager named Dalton led the Straw Hat's ground party to his house.

He seemed to be a nice guy. He was also very polite.

The house was a modest little home. Dalton started a fire while Sanji set Nami down in the bed Dalton had loaned them.

"42° Celsius?"

"Yes, Mr. Dalton. She's doing very poorly."

"If it rises any more, she will die."

"That's right,but we don't know what caused this and how to treat her."

"Hey! It doesn't matter what caused this, we need to find someone to cure it!" Sanji was getting impatient. They needed to find this doctor!

"Just tell us where we can find this "witch"!"

"Do you see the mountain outside the window?" Dalton pointed towards the window while checking Nami some more.

"You mean th-"

Sanji looked through the window to see the scariest face he had ever seen. He fell back on his behind.

"Alright! Mr. Snowman is complete!" Luffy had built a giant sized Mr. Snowman outside the window.

"This is the snow monster, Shilora!" Ussop showed off another one of his masterpieces.

"You bastards! I'm going to kick your asses!" Sanji was angry at them for surprising him.

Sanji went outside and after a few minutes, came back in with a beaten Luffy and Ussop. They sat on the ground apologizing repeatedly.

Dalton began to tell the group about the 140 year old doctor who had remained on the island. She was a rude hag who healed only those that could pay her price. She also had a weird creature she lived in which scared anyone away from where she lived and she only came down when she felt like it.

Sanji and Vivi stood in silence. If she only came down when she felt like it, then Nami might n-

"Hey! Nami! Wake up." Luffy slapped Nami lightly on her face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Everyone in the room angrily yelled. That was certainly not the way to treat a sick person!

Nami woke up, her eyes almost shut as the pain was too much.

"Nami. The doctor won't be coming down, so we're going to go hiking up to them. Do you understand?"

"You bastard! Are you planning on carrying Nami up the mountain?!" Sanji was scared. He could only see this as the path they could take. Nami couldn't wait for a doctor.

"That's crazy! You would have to climb that tall mountain up there!" The mountain seemed to just shoot up from the ground. In weather like this, it would almost be impossible.

They were silence by the sound of Nami's small laugh.

"I see." She muttered, "Then I leave it to you."

* * *

After some brief discussion, Sanji decided to go with Luffy. He knew Luffy wouldn't be able to do much if he was going to carry Nami.

He was going to say that he should carry her, but he couldn't.

That rash got worse. Sanji wasn't sure if he would be able to use his legs after some time.

"Luffy! If you drop Nami even once, she'll die!" Ussop needed Luffy to understand this point. He knew him too well and figured that Luffy didn't know that.

"Only once?" Ussop was right, Luffy didn't know that. If he dropped her once, that was instant failure.

They set off towards the mountain.

"Remember you two!" Dalton was yelling,"Don't anger the lapahns!"

"Alright! Let's go, Sanji! Before Nami dies!"

"Don't say that, asshole!"

* * *

"It's getting cold."

Luffy and Sanji were almost to the mountain. It appeared they had to go through a blizzard to get to it.

"Then why didn't you wear more clothes? Even with everything I have, I can still feel the cold."

They kept running, Luffy didn't answer him.

A baby lapahn saw them and started to attack. Luffy and Sanji didn't even notice it as they dodged its attacks.

"Hey, you shitty captain! I asked you a question."

"Did you know that people that lived in this cold don't sleep?"

Sanji let it go. Luffy sometimes tuned them out when he thought they weren't saying anything interesting.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because they'll die if they do."

The lapahn increased the frequency of its attacks, but was still unable to hit the three Straw Hats.

"Are you crazy? How would they be able to live?"

"I don't know. I'm not a doctor. It's true though."

"Where did you hear that, Ussop?"

"Nah, someone in my village told me about it."

Lunging towards Sanji, the lapahn bared its teeth. Sanji ducked and it went flying into a tree, breaking it in half.

"Then why does Dalton have a bed in his house?"

"That's easy. That's for when he dies."

"That doesn't make any- whatever. Did you know that girls in cold places have very smooth skin?"

"Why?"

"Because they have to warm themselves up by rubbing their arms like this. And their legs like this...and the rest of themselves..." Sanji was already kind of gone. He was fantasizing.

"Then why is their skin white?"

"Because it absorbs the color of the snow."

"You're crazy."

"That's strange coming from you." Sanji brought his left leg back,"By the way..."

Sanji punted the lapahn into the distance.

"How long was that thing going to follow us?!"

"What thing?" Luffy looked at Sanji weirdly. He didn't notice anything different.

"You didn't see that white rabbit?!"

"No." Luffy was too deep in thought. Plus, who could see a white rabbit in all of this snow?

* * *

They went some meters and found a wall of white lapahn waiting for them.

"...they're white creatures. They must be polar bears."

"I think these are the lapahn that Dalton talked about. This might be hard..."

* * *

Miss All Sunday had just finished fishing Zoro out of the river. It seems, despite his strength and will, the water was just too cold for him.

Carue was watching her from a far distance. It didn't matter that he had seen her, he couldn't talk.

She tried to sense the various creatures on the island.

The ability was getting stronger. It was able to discern different people rather than just whether it was human or not.

Sanji and Luffy were currently fighting what seemed to be a massive horde of large creatures. Nami was on Luffy's back.

It seemed that Nami wasn't doing very well. Her presence was weakening.

Sensing for the other Straw Hats, she was able to find Ussop and Vivi. They were with some people, so Miss All Sunday thought she should investigate a little.

An ear formed near the two.

"I heard you were looking for a doctor, Dalton?" A large woman was talking to the three. Dalton must have been the large man near Vivi and Ussop.

Miss All Sunday giggled a little. Ussop was bowing to the large woman. He must have thought she was a Hiking Bear.

"Yes, we have just sent a patient to her mountain."

"Well, she's in town now."

Miss All Sunday didn't need to form eyes to sense the shock the three had experienced.

She had a worried expression and looked to where Luffy and Sanji had headed off to.

They really had made her too soft.

Making sure Zoro was comfortable, she set off towards the mountain.

They were too far away for her to use her powers.

* * *

"Are you kidding me?! Why are they so fast?! Are they gorillas or something?!"

"No, they're polar bears!"

"Be quiet, Luffy!"

The lapahns charged at them again, forcing them to move further away from the mountain.

"Listen, Luffy. Don't fight them. If you were to get hit, Nami would receive the same amount of force."

Luffy paused. He couldn't even fight?

"...Alright. I won't fight. But how are we going to get through?"

"Thanks for your confidence in me, Captain. I'll take care of these guys."

A lapahn was about to smash Sanji with the hands it held over its head, but Sanji stepped to the side, turning as he did so and he kicked the lapahn with a side kick.

It flew some distance, but began to recover. Meanwhile, Sanji discovered that his kicks weren't as powerful due to him sinking into the snow as he kicked.

'This is going to be troublesome...' He thought as he looked at the horde of lapahn that blocked their way to the doctor.

"We need to get out of here, Luffy!"

He turned and spotted a ledge that might slow the lapahn down.

"Luffy!" Sanji pointed towards the ledge, "Get up there! I'll follow!"

"Alright!"

A lapahn had jumped in Luffy's way and Luffy used the lapahn as a ladder to jump higher towards the ledge.

The lapahn looked confused, Luffy didn't put any force in his legs as he jumped off of it.

Sanji kicked off the lapahn that was in the air and it went crashing down. Sanji managed to get to the ledge and started running along with Luffy.

'Lapahn are good jumpers' Sanji thought as he watched the horde jump to where they were.

* * *

Dalton had just been injured badly by one of King Wapol's men, Chess.

Three arrows were sticking out from his chest. He had just saved his men from suffering this fate.

He looked at King Wapol and noticed he was laughing along with his subordinates.

To think he had once called this man his king.

He had just given directions to Vivi and Ussop to Gyasta to try to find the doctor.

Hoping that they had made it, he started to lose consciousness.

Before fading away, he heard King Wapol and his men talking about going to the castle.

He hoped they would die in an avalanche or by vicious lapahns.

* * *

Luffy and Sanji stared at the lapahns that were jumping up and down in one position further up the slope.

The lapahns had stopped trying to attack them and they had moved ahead and started doing this.

Suddenly, Sanji's cigarette dropped from his mouth as he realized what they were doing.

"This must be a joke! I can't believe what they're doing..."

"Why? What are they doing?"

"They're going to cause an avalanche! Let's run away from here, Luffy!"

"What? Run where?!"

"Anywhere that's not here!"

The two started running for their lives as thick white waves of snow rushed towards them.

"What are we going to do, Sanji?!"

"I don't know! I know that the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most absolute things we have to do is to protect Nami-swan with our lives!"

"I know that, but what do we do about this?!"

Luffy suddenly got an idea.

"Sanji! Hold my hand!"

"What?! Why?!" Luffy grabbed his hand anyway and jumped on a tree.

The tree broke, and Luffy rode on in like a snowboard.

Sanji followed him shortly after being dragged on.

"Luffy! You know how to do this?"

"No! I don't! Oh no, look over there!"

Sanji looked to where Luffy had pointed and saw the lapahns snowboarding on trees as well.

"What the-?! Hurry, Luffy!"

They began to duck and weave through the many lapahns that tried to clobber or bite them.

Soon after the lapahns appeared, they had another problem.

"We're headed straight for that rock! We're going to hit it!" Luffy panicked. They couldn't stop and he couldn't think of anything he could do to get them out of this situation.

Sanji had an idea though. He couldn't let Nami or even Luffy get hurt anymore by these overgrown monster rabbits.

He picked Luffy up and threw him with enough strength so he would almost come to a stop in the air.

"Sanji! What are you doing?!"

Sanji looked at him and smirked.

"A man must always be gentle to the ladies." He reminded Luffy to save Nami in his own way.

The tree that Sanji was on hit the rock hard. It sent Sanji flying towards the ground, but the rock was in the way.

His head smashed against the stone and blood gushed from his head. He fell limply into the snow as it carried him away.

"Sanji!" Luffy had grabbed onto the rock after he had fallen to it.

He shot his hand out to try to reel Sanji back in, but Sanji's glove came off as Luffy pulled.

Luffy could do nothing but stare as his friend was taken away from him by the snow.

* * *

Luffy set Nami down where it seemed safe. He tucked his hat underneath one of her arms and set out to find Sanji.

They had already been walking for so long in the cold, but it would take another hour to find Sanji.

After he found Sanji's leg sticking out of the ground, he began to dig him out.

The snow bit at his hands, but he was able to pull him out and bring him back to Nami.

Sanji didn't seem to be doing so well. His breathing was labored and he looked really cold from being under all of that snow.

Time was shorter for Nami. Her fever had gotten worse and she was struggling to breathe as well.

Luffy carried Sanji under his right arm and Nami on his back. He began the long trek back up the mountain.

It was another few hours before he had arrived where they had been before the lapahn attack.

He saw what seemed to be the same lapahn baby that had attacked him and Sanji earlier, creating this whole mess.

It was trying to dig an adult lapahn out of the snow. Its paws were stained red and its fur was matted with its own blood as it continued its dig for the adult.

After seeing Luffy, it started to growl and hiss. It protectively got in front of the adult, even if it knew that Luffy could murder the both of them.

Luffy walked right past the baby and pulled the adult free with a harsh tug. It might have hurt the adult, but it was still alive.

Luffy walked away. He couldn't think about food at a time like this. His friends needed help now.

His limbs became numb after he had finally found the mountain leading to the doctor's castle.

Chanting "doctor" to himself to remind him why he had to push himself so hard, he stopped.

He had to take his sandals off due to him needing as much grip as he could get.

He put Sanji's shirt in his mouth, making sure that his teeth wouldn't bite through the shirt or Sanji.

Nami seemed to be warm enough, but he tied the jacket that secured her to him a bit tighter and around his waist.

Starting to climb, he noticed that the wall of the mountain was really smooth, and it was hard to even move up an inch.

Ridding himself of those thoughts, he kept climbing.

* * *

It must have been three hours since he started climbing, but he didn't dare look at the ground. He just needed to keep climbing.

One of his nails broke off and he screamed in pain.

Sanji slipped from his mouth and fell to the cold earth below.

Luffy stretched his head to where Sanji was falling and bit into the cloth.

Luckily, he didn't bite Sanji, but it was rather hard holding Sanji like this and not falling from the mountain.

He slowly brought his head back and kept climbing.

Whenever one of his nails would break, he would have to grimace and shut his eyes.

The cold just made his wounds hurt more as he kept going.

* * *

"Finally...I made it..." Luffy was on the verge of passing out.

In front of him stood a giant castle that had been at the top of the mountain.

After climbing for so long, Luffy had forgotten how cold it really was.

His skin had a bluish tint to it and some of his extremities were purple.

Luffy didn't even know what frostbite was as he stared at his wounds.

His head fell to the ground and he passed out. Even after making it this far, he could go no further.

"Isn't that the little brat that's disrespected me so many times?"

Wapol had arrived at his castle with his two henchmen, Chess and Kuromarimo.

"Mahahaha! Look how weak he is! Couldn't even climb up a mountain!" He said as he sat on Robson, his White Walkie, who had actually carried them all up the mountain.

"Chess! Kuromarimo! Go and bring them to me! I'm hungry." Wapol ordered. He was drooling heavily as he stared at the three Straw Hats bodies.

"Yes, My Lord!" They jumped forth, intending on watching their king eat these fools.

Hands sprouted forth and pushed them all off the mountain.

Before Wapol fell off. Black hands sprouted from within his body and caused him much pain before he hit the ground.

* * *

Miss All Sunday stood still as she realized what she had done.

She had saved the three from a fate more horrible than death.

They really did make her soft.

She made sure her coat was fastened as she spawned hands to wave over the people she had felt within the castle.

Looks like she was going to have to help them a bit more.

* * *

"Thank you for helping me, Vivi." Ussop said as they continued walking towards a village.

They had been hit by the avalanche, but Vivi managed to get away while Ussop had not.

Vivi managed to wake him up from his frozen slumber. He would have died if not for her waking him up.

"Don't mention it!"

Vivi had slapped Ussop so many times to get him to wake up that his face was unrecognizable. Bumps were everywhere on his head as he rubbed them.

"Why do I have these bumps on my face?" He asked while he rubbed.

Vivi had not told him that she had hit him.

"Oh! It must be the frostbite, you know it seems hard to live in a land like this!"

The snow ahead of them suddenly erupted, sending Vivi and Ussop to the ground.

Zoro stood there, half naked.

"This is bad! I'm cold! Where am I? Oh well, I'll just consider this to be part of my training."

"Zoro!" Vivi screamed. Not only because he was half naked in freezing degree weather, but she did not expect to see him there.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Oh? Vivi? And uh..." He couldn't tell who the other one was.

Taking a closer look, he realized that the man had a really long nose.

"Ussop!" He guessed. "What are you doing here?"

"We should be asking you that question!"

"Oh, I found myself on the deck after I tried swimming. I think something held me under the water."

"That would be ice, Zoro. It forms on top of the water."

"Well, I decided to go fishing since I was hungry. I chased after this one fish and it led me here. I tried to walk through the forest, but it seems people don't build villages anywhere."

"You're so stupid."

"Whatever. Can I borrow one of your jackets?"

"No."

"A shoe then?!" Zoro was getting desperate. It really was cold.

"Sorry!" Ussop told him, "You did this to yourself!"

"Hey look! It's the village! It seems the avalanche hit it pretty hard." Vivi pointed to the village which had many bright lights.

"Hey, Zoro? Were you looking for the village underneath the snow?"

"Shut up! I was hit by the avalanche too! I had to dig my way out!"

They saw the villagers being harassed by Wapol's soldiers. They seemed to be keeping medical attention from reaching Dalton.

Zoro hit one of the soldiers in the head. Everyone began to warn him to run away so he wouldn't get killed.

Zoro instead stole the clothes off of the man he had, maybe, knocked unconscious. Having clothes was so good!

He looked back to see the soldiers point their weapons at him.

Zoro considered this to be a part of his training as well as he began to destroy the soldiers that dared point their weapons at him.

* * *

Nami woke up in a strange room.

It had weapons all over the walls and there was a fireplace at the foot of the bed she was in.

Books lined the walls as well, but a lot of them seemed to be missing.

She noticed something walking near the bed.

"Who's that?" She asked as she rose out of bed completely.

The thing panicked and rushed to the doorway, intending on hiding itself.

Nami looked at the miniature reindeer as it tried to hide behind the door, but instead was standing in the middle of the doorway, hiding a part of its face.

"You're hiding the wrong way." She was used to stuff like this though. Actually, this was pretty tame.

It began to panic once more and hid itself. Its hat and antlers were still clearly visible.

"What are you doing anyway?" She couldn't help but sweat. Why did it even attempt to hide?

"Shut up, human!" It yelled, "By the way, are you feeling better?!"

Nami screamed. She wasn't expecting it to actually answer her.

* * *

Luffy woke up in a warm bed.

It felt pretty nice, but how did he get here?

He slowly looked up out of the bed. He could see Sanji snoring peacefully in another bed.

That was great! They were alive!

But where was Nami?!

He tried to run out of the bed, but noticed something was keeping him down. He couldn't see what it was because the blankets were in the way.

"Please, stay in bed." He heard a familiar voice,"You are very impressive, Luffy."

He looked towards the voice and saw Miss All Sunday sitting in a chair next to a table. The table was piled with books. It seemed she like to read a lot. She was looking at him with a curious expression, as if she was trying to figure something out.

"What the? Where did you come from?! Where are my friends?!"

"Don't worry. Your friends are alright. Navigator-chan's condition is being cured. If you had waited two more days, she would have died. Cook-san has sustained some injuries, but they can be cured. If you had waited one more day though, he would have been in serious trouble."

Pausing, she closed her eyes.

"Well, I don't think there is a cure for that kind of condition, but Roronoa Zoro is alright as well."

"Did you help us get in here?"

"Yes, I brought the doctor and her assistant from the castle."

"Oh! Thanks very much!" He smiled at her.

She returned one of her own. "You're welcome. Now, I'll go get the...nevermind. It seems as though he is already here." She looked towards the doorway.

Luffy saw meat on legs and decided he wanted to eat it.

He struggled even more as he attempted to get up.

"Luffy? That's the doctor's assistant. He's here to help you."

"Hm? Really?" He looked at the meat on legs more closely.

It seemed to have antlers, a hat, and a blue nose. It was rather short. It also looked very terrified to be there.

"Y-You were suffering from lots of frostbite, Mr. Luffy. The other injuries weren't serious." The little assistant seemed to stutter from fear. He trembled as he looked at Luffy.

"Oh? You're a doctor? Ah! Thank you for saving my friends!" Luffy grinned at the reindeer.

The reindeer flinched and started blushing, waving his arms as he did so.

"Your thanks mean nothing, you stupid idiot! Idiot!" He looked a bit like he was dancing.

Luffy could hear Miss All Sunday giggle at the display. The reindeer looked very happy for some reason, though his words sounded mean.

"His name is Chopper. It seems he ate the Human-Human Fruit."

"Really? What are you able to do, tanuki?"

"I'm a reindeer!" Chopper suddenly grew huge and fierce looking.

"Woah! You can transform?! That's so cool!" Luffy was having a good time. His friends were alright and this guy seemed interesting!

He wanted him to join his crew!

* * *

Nami sat back as she listened to Dr. Kureha, the witch the villagers talked about, tell her of Chopper's story.

She was impressed that such a little guy knew so much, but she felt really bad for him.

To have been rejected by not only his own parents, but his species? To then try to fit in with humans and driven away with guns and stones?

It seemed too sad for such a kind little guy.

He couldn't even take a compliment. It seemed he had never received one before.

Dr. Kureha had told her to take him with her, but only if she could cure his heart.

She didn't even know how to cure her own heart, how could she begin with someone else?

"There was one man though," Kureha spoke up from their moment of silence,"His name was Hiluluk. He was a fake doctor who gave Chopper his name and called him his son."

"I watched Hiluluk for a while. We used to be colleagues. He was a nice guy, but too stupid to cure anything."

"He had come across Chopper when he had been hunted by the villagers. He tried to treat Chopper, but was beaten till he was near death." Kureha paused, but then started to laugh,"He then got up, undressed himself completely, and told Chopper that he would never hurt him! Stupid idiot..."

Kureha actually looked pained. Nami wouldn't know, but Kureha and Hiluluk had actually been a couple before, but that was before the Facility. That had changed them both forever.

"Chopper told me that the first thing he woke up to, was inside Hiluluk's dwelling. On the table was a simple loaf of bread."

"He told me that bread was the first thing anyone had ever given him. It was the best loaf of bread in the world as he cried his eyes out."

She told Nami about their future adventures. Running into town and causing trouble. They were always messing with "It's Twenty", the only doctors left in the Kingdom that would only serve Wapol and anyone who begged him for help.

And about how they could always be seen laughing.

It all changed one day when Chopper had completely recovered from his wounds. Hiluluk had forced Chopper out of their home.

"Chopper, that idiot, actually cut his head with an axe just for Hiluluk to help him." Nami could be heard gasping,"Don't be surprised, girl! How would you take it when your father had just changed from being the kindest person you had ever known into the monsters that had rejected him his whole life!"

Kureha didn't speak for a while.

"He came to me to ask what was wrong with him. I told him about how Hiluluk had been suffering from a disease. He wanted so badly to help him." She sighed, "In the end, Chopper screwed up and gave Hiluluk a poisonous mushroom. He would die in the next hour. Instead of waiting to die, he went right up to Wapol and his castle! This was the very castle he had died in front of! And he proclaimed that a man would never die as long as he was remembered! He chose to die by his own hand than to force his son to have killed his father!"

"I always liked his enthusiasm. His compassion. Even if he was suffering, he always worried about everyone else. After he died, Chopper came to me and asked for my help to make him the greatest doctor. The kid's grown on me a bit." Kureha smiled fondly as she remembered the past.

"I'm the second person to have called Chopper, "my son"."

* * *

Miss All Sunday had already heard of Chopper's story. She had asked for it from Kureha before everyone woke up.

Dr. Kureha and Dr. Hiluluk were both World Government doctors that had come to Drum because of the Drum Facility.

Kureha was an excellent doctor, always able to treat the patients, even if she did hurt them a bit.

Hiluluk was bad at healing, but was great at experimenting. He never liked his job, and he would even experiment on himself to protect his patients. He was originally a thief, but was able to turn his life around.

Sadly, he had worked for the wrong people.

If only more men like Hiluluk were alive, maybe the world would be a different place?

After Wapol's Doctor Hunt, they had both fled and tried to help the Drum citizens.

Kureha might have taken a lot of things from the villagers, but she needed to. The money and supplies were essential to survive.

Hiluluk was not as lucky. He wasn't good at curing anyone and was called the Quack Doctor. He survived by providing for himself.

He had found Chopper, was close to death, and had nursed him back to health.

Miss All Sunday thought it was amusing how someone could pacify another just by stripping naked in the cold.

Hiluluk taught Chopper about medicine. About friendship. About family.

And he taught him that a man does not die until he is forgotten.

Kureha told her about Hiluluk's disease, and how Chopper had tried to cure him, but he gave the doctor a poison mushroom that would kill him in a hour.

Hiluluk chose suicide rather than have his son believe he had killed him.

And how Chopper had seen him die and being unable to do anything about it.

It was noble of the man, but sad.

She couldn't help but like the long-dead doctor.

Kureha and Chopper had gone outside to face Wapol, who had come back to take his castle away from Kureha.

She had kept Luffy nearby as they listened to Kureha tell Chopper's story. Normally, Luffy wouldn't have listened, but Miss All Sunday knew that they didn't have time for Luffy to find reasons to recruit Chopper.

Well, aside from him being a cool shape-shifting monster.

His hat covered his eyes as he listened. He had decided. Chopper would become his doctor.

Miss All Sunday let him go and watched as he ran outside to confront Wapol.

She wondered how he would greet the mad king?

* * *

"Gum Gum Bullet!"

Luffy's fist crashed into Wapol's face, sending him flying towards his hippo.

The hippo stopped Wapol's flight, but it sent the hippo flying into the distance, never to be seen again.

Chess and Kuromarimo just stared in shock! Their boss was hurt badly from just one punch!

"What's the deal with all of you weaklings?" Luffy began to pick his nose.

Maybe he should just let other people deal with them from now on? He was going to be the Pirate King too fast at this rate.

"Weak?! Don't call King Wapol weak!"

"Yeah, whatever."

Chopper just stared at the strange rubberman for a bit. He had just hurt the one man that had terrorized Drum Island for so long.

He couldn't help but feel a little awestruck.

The feeling only diminished slightly when he pulled a booger out and flicked it away.

The clown and the marimo pulled Wapol up.

"How dare you harm the Drum Kingdom's King! King Wap-"

"I don't care! I've decided that I hate you all very much!" Luffy stretched his face to make disgusting faces at them.

People like these sickened him.

"Wait, King?! You mean he isn't even a pirate?!"

"No." Kureha spoke to him, "He only went to the sea because he abandoned his people and his country so he could save his own worthless life."

"I'm so sick of you! Baku Baku Shock! Wapol House!"

Wapol turned into a big stove like thing.

The bystanders, excluding Chess and Kuromarimo, were confused about what he was going to do next.

He then started eating Chess and Kuromarimo.

"What the hell?!" "He's eating his crew mates!"

Kureha stayed silent as Chopper and Luffy expressed disgust at the action.

"Witness the strongest fighter in the Drum Empire! Chessmarimo!"

Luffy could only think of how stupid the two looked coming out of Wapol.

'I didn't know that's where babies came from.' He thought.

Wapol started talking weak-speak, about how he would control the area, kill everyone, an-

Wapol shot the flag that was on top of the castle.

Chopper looked furious, but also frightened. The flag seemed to mean so much to him.

Luffy jumped to the top of the castle. He put the flag back up.

"Hey! You stupid idiots!" Luffy yelled out,"How dare you shoot this flag?!" He looked down to sneer at Wapol and his subordinates.

"You became pirates without preparing to risk your lives! You don't understand the meaning behind this flag!"

"What's so important about the flag?" Wapol had a ignorant look on his face,"That's just a decoration for pirates."

"That's why you're such a worthless piece of shit!"

"What?!" Wapol finally noticed the flag was put up again, "Who told you to put that flag back up?! Didn't I tell you that this all belongs to me?! Die with that flag that you care so much about!"

He shot another cannonball at Luffy. He just stood there, holding the flag.

Chopper didn't want to see this man get hurt!

He remembered how even near death, he had grabbed Kureha's sleeve.

"_Please...save them..they're my friends...!" _

"Please! Get down from there!" Chopper tried to warn the nice man.

"Who would let you destroy this flag!" Luffy shouted in rage just as the cannonball reached him.

"This pirate flag is a symbol of faith!"

The cannonball exploded, obscuring Luffy and the flag from sight with smoke.

"Mahahaha! Stupid fool! That will sh-"

"See?" Luffy's warped voice could be heard behind the curtain of smoke.

"This flag will never be broken!"

"I don't know who's flag this is...but this flag is a promise for life!"

"SOMEONE LIKE YOU DOESN'T HAVE A RIGHT TO JUST DESTROY IT AND LAUGH!" Luffy roared, incapacitating Chessmarimo.

Chopper stood there staring at Luffy.

'This is a real pirate.' He thought of all the stories Hiluluk told him about pirates.

The man embodied the just images that had been painted for him by his father.

'He's great...'

"I'll destroy and laugh at anything I want to! Just like that quack doctor that monster keeps talking about!"

Chopper popped a yellow pill into his mouth.

Suddenly, he was already in his deer form, running at Wapol.

Wapol tried to shoot him, but he dodged to side each time.

When he approached him, Chopper turned into a human and latched onto his face.

"Doctor...! Doctor even thought about saving your life!" Chopper raised his fist in preparation to hit Wapol.

Chopper couldn't help but remember all the times Hiluluk cared so much about everyone. How he had never hurt anything or anyone to get what he needed. How, instead of using a real gun, he used an anesthetic.

He dropped his fist.

"I won't hurt you." He said,"So just get out of this country!"

"Chopper! What are you saying?!" Kureha was shouting, "Do you think he'll understand?!"

Wapol just smirked. He could do whatever he wanted to the monster.

Chopper didn't have time to think as he was forced into Wapol's mouth and chewed up.

Luffy was surprised, but tried rocketing toward Wapol.

It was too late. Wapol swallowed. Chopper was eaten.

"Chopper!" Luffy could hear Kureha's scream.

After going through so much...

Luffy remembered all the times he was unable to do anything. For the patients. For the mayor of Orange Town!

He wasn't able to help Shushu!

He wasn't able to save Sabo!

Wapol was shocked when a white monster started to tear his mouth open.

The thing jumped inside. Wapol started trying to chew him up, but found that he couldn't.

He felt teeth and claws. The thing was not only eating **him** but also tearing him up!

Wapol tried to spit him out, but the thing was just digging further into his throat!

It was too late. The beast was now in his stomach.

"No! Stop!" Wapol was screaming in pain.

His stomach exploded in a shower of gore, sending blood flying everywhere.

The white monster climbed out with a weakened Chopper in his arms.

Chopper looked to be hurt, not only from being chewed, but his skin was burning from the stomach acid.

Smoke trailed off the both of them as the acid ate away at their skin.

Wapol fell over. He never knew someone could actually tear him apart from within.

"Please! Doctor!" Chopper could hear the man screaming still as he was beginning to lose consciousness.

"Help my friend!" Those were almost the same words he had used for the ones he brought up.

'He's really a nice guy...' Chopper finally blacked out, the pain of the acid was too much for him.

* * *

Luffy waited outside while Chopper was attended to.

He stared at the body of Wapol.

The mad king was still alive. He had used his power to reconstruct his body before passing out.

Luffy grabbed his face, and spun him around sideways in the air.

"Gum Gum..." He waited until his arm had gained enough momentum.

"...Flail!" He let go and watched Wapol fly through the air.

That'll teach him.

'Hopefully, he'll land in the ocean.' Luffy thought as he watched a lift arrive from somewhere.

* * *

Chopper had run away from the nice man and his friends.

He forgot why he was running, but it had something to do with him being called evil again.

The nice man was just chasing him to chase him.

"Hey! Reindeer! Where are you?!" He shouted, "I want you to join my crew!"

"Just come and be a pirate with us!"

"Hey, maybe he doesn't want to come with us?" Zoro told Luffy. He had never even met the reindeer.

"What? No way. He's coming with us."

Luffy was adamant. He didn't want the little guy out of his sight anymore.

He seemed way too vulnerable to leave him by himself. He reminded Luffy of the people he couldn't protect.

He was going to start working on that, starting with Chopper.

Luffy had to call a few more times before Chopper finally showed himself.

"Ah! Reindeer! You want to be a pirate with me, right?!"

Chopper wondered how he could tell.

"I'm sorry, but I can't become a pirate with you."

Luffy's expression turned emotionless. Zoro watched the exchange along with Ussop.

"Why? Don't you know that being a pirate is fun?"

I really want to...I do."

"But I'm a reindeer! I have hooves and antlers! I have a blue nose!"

"I want to be a pirate, but I'm a monster! I'm not able to be friends with humans!"

"I can't join you...but if you come by someday...then..maybe..-"

"SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy shouted in the air.

He couldn't stand the pain in Chopper's voice. It sounded so broken.

It sounded like his voice when he had hoped some of the other patients would be friends with him.

He saw the tears in Chopper's eyes, but knew them to not be tears of sadness.

"Okay!" Chopper screamed as tears fell down his cheeks.

He really wanted to go with them! They were some of the first humans to have accepted him!

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched everything that had happened. She now stood next to Kureha as sakura colored snowflakes fell from the sky.

"Goodbye...my stupid son!" Kureha muttered to herself, a few tears falling from her eyes.

They had both seen how Chopper wailed into the night as he saw Hiluluk's dream of sakura blossoms in this snowy land.

Miss All Sunday thought it was cute. It actually brought some tears to her eyes, though she didn't shed any.

She had always had a soft spot for children. Possibly because of her abused childhood.

In any case, she knew she would never be allowed any, so she relished any chance she got to see a child.

It just so happened that the newest Straw Hat was one.

"We protected him, you know?" Kureha spoke suddenly.

"Pardon?"

"You've asked many questions, but I've never mentioned the most important thing that happened."

"The Facility had been going on for some time. Even after the Doctor Hunts. Me and Hiluluk, we protected that kid. If the government found out there was a loose Devil Fruit eater out here..."

"They would have taken the chance to try to restart the facility."

"Yes. My son was lucky enough to not be subjected to that hell."

They stood in silence for a bit.

"I know you're following them. I would like to ask you to keep him safe from them."

"What makes you think that I can keep him safe?" Miss All Sunday didn't like where this was going. Kureha wasn't stupid nor naïve, so why did she expect her to be able to do such a thing?

"That's because I know you've been part of one."

Hands formed around her neck and clasped dangerously tight.

"Hold your horses, you didn't let me finish." Kureha looked over at the Devil Fruit eater.

She looked scared. That was something Kureha didn't expect.

"...Don't remind me of that place. It was not a pleasant experience for me."

"I can imagine. A pretty girl such as yourself would be subjected to terrible things."

The hands disappeared. This woman wasn't going to do anything now.

"I just want you to protect him from that same hell. I promised Hiluluk that he would never have to go through such a thing."

Miss All Sunday didn't answer her for a while.

"I'll try my best, but don't expect much. The Straw Hats are officially my enemy."

"Heeheehee...was that young man you saved your "enemy"?"

Miss All Sunday allowed only a little surprise to flash through her eyes as she stared at Kureha.

"I'm still young, girl. I have eyes and ears. I heard and saw everything."

"And it's hard to miss the belonging in your eyes, girl." Kureha began to walk away. She waved a bit to tell her "goodbye".

Miss All Sunday slowly walked back to where Banchi waited.

Belonging or not, she would eventually have to fight the Straw Hats.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Good night...**


	11. The Lie that Must End

**Okay everyone! Here's the next story arc, the "Alabasta" arc! I was just done halfway through this chapter.**

**Half of the chapter is from the manga with slight differences. The other half where Crocodile meets the crew is a bit different and doesn't follow the manga sometimes. **

**The chapter ends after Crocodile's fight! Hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

As they were sailing away from Drum Island, the Straw Hats began to party.

Everyone was on the deck.

"Hey, Nami! Do I look like Yosaku?" Luffy asked while he held chopsticks in his mouth with his nostrils.

"It's a very beautiful night! I never expected to see sakura in this cold place!" Sanji was getting a drink which was poured by Zoro.

"Yes! It's a night to get drunk!" Zoro said as he tapped his glass with Sanji's. This wasn't the time for fighting.

"Hey, you!" Ussop called to their newest crew member, "Come drink with us!"

"Wait a minute here!" The party stopped when Nami started yelling.

"What happened to Carue?!" She pointed to where Vivi sat with Carue. She was crying as she wrapped blankets around him.

"Maybe he just fell in the water? What an idiot!" Zoro laughed. Carue looked funny.

"Quack...quack..." Carue told them all, but he knew it was futile. Nobody could know what he was sa-

"He said he saw Zoro jump into the water and he was in danger. He jumped in after him but became ice."

"It's all because of you!" Nami hit Zoro as hard as she could on his head, his head was smashed into the deck and he almost lost consciousness.

"Tony-kun! That's great! You speak animal?" Vivi enthused.

"Yes, I used to be one, so I understand their language."

"Alright!" Nami was happy. A two for one deal. "Not only do you know medicine, but you speak to animals!"

Chopper looked shocked, but began to blush and dance.

"Damn it! I won't be happy with those words, you know!" His face was one of joy as he kept dancing.

The rest of the crew was a bit confused as he seemed happy, but told them insults.

"Nami-swan? Why did you buy medicine?" Sanji asked. He had been out for most of their stay from his injuries.

Nami handed Chopper his bag, or what she thought was his. It had a cross on it and it was in the sled before they had left.

Chopper stopped dancing and reached into his bag. He pulled out a vial and handed it to Sanji.

"Drink this twice a day. It should help clear the infection up."

"Wait, wh-

"Chopper is a doctor."

"What?! That's great!" Sanji was glad.

He could still remain a man.

They heard Luffy and Ussop laughing.

"Chopper! Come join us!" They both had nostril-mouth sticks.

Sanji and Nami weren't too impressed with the display. It looked weird.

"Don't copy them!" Nami tried to tell Chopper, but it was too late.

She didn't want such an innocent soul to be tainted with the likes of those two idiots!

"Alright everyone!" Ussop blew into a whistle to make everyone pay attention to him.

"Let's have a toast to Chopper!" He stood there with his glass in the air.

Nobody paid any attention to him as they were already distracted.

Sanji and Zoro started fighting in the background. Zoro was hogging the alcohol.

Luffy was dancing around with Chopper, trying to look as ridiculous as possible.

"Let's have a toast!" He tried again and noticed that the crew mates were already holding up their glasses, in a way.

"To Chopper!" They shouted in unison.

Chopper just stood by in disbelief. He never expected any of this to happen.

He grinned widely. "I don't think I've ever been this happy before!"

* * *

It was now the morning after the night they had partied. They were headed straight for Alabasta.

"No, I don't know anything about what you're talking about..."Luffy muttered while he looked away from Sanji, sweating.

"Oh?" Sanji raised his eyebrow,"You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Hey!" He noticed Luffy looking away even more, "Why do you keep looking away?! Look me straight in the eyes."

"How is it that the provisions that we had to last eight days suddenly disappears in the middle of the night?!" This was bad. They had eaten all of their food again.

"Resistance is futile." He grabbed Luffy's face, "You'd make a bad po-"

Luffy burped loudly in his face.

Sanji just stepped back and took a shocked look on his face.

"Is that some food on your cheek?"

Luffy's tongue shot out, trying to get whatever food particle Sanji had seen.

That was all he needed.

He stepped away from the now beaten Luffy towards his fellow thieves.

These people were terrible at lying. Well, except for Ussop, but Sanji knew he was the instigator in all of this.

Nami just watched on and sighed. Sanji was right. This was bad.

"Nami-swan! Can you believe this asshole?!" He stopped his course towards the other three, Ussop, Chopper, and Carue as he turned to Nami.

"You got to buy me a refrigerator with a lock!"

"You're probably right...our lives depend on it." She agreed with Sanji as he continued his walk towards the three.

* * *

Zoro finally woke up. It seemed everyone was still talking about that Baroque Works group.

"You better watch out, Crocodile! I'm going to kick your ass!"

"You didn't understand a word she said, did you?"

He wiped the tears of tiredness away. Baroque Works? Why did that sound so familiar though?

Whatever. He laid back down to do some more heavy sleeping. Recovering sucked.

* * *

"Luffy! I thought I told you not to eat the bait!" Ussop screamed in fear. Now they had no bait!

"But you ate som-"

"I only ate the stuff on the bottom of the lid!"

"Now we have no bait!" He paused and looked at Luffy who was pointing at Carue.

* * *

"Luffy? Ussop? How's the fishing com-AH! Carue!"

She had just come to check how they were doing, but discovered they had tied Carue to their fishing poles.

"I hope we catch a shark!" "I hope we catch a sea monster!"

Vivi saw red as she started to beat Ussop and Luffy up.

She had forgotten about Carue though as he continued to hang off the side of the ship, quacking in fear.

* * *

The Going Merry had just passed steam coming from the ocean.

Nami explained that it was just from a hotspot, an island would be there in millions of years.

The weird thing that Luffy and Ussop noticed, was that they had caught something with Carue.

A weird looking man with makeup and strange clothing had latched onto Carue. Carue was passed out in fear.

"Ah! We caught an okama!" Okama was for effeminate gay men.

"Why did I hold on to this weird duck!" The Okama screamed as he fell into the ocean.

"Thank you very much for rescuing me." The Okama was thankful that they had fished him out of the water. It seemed that he couldn't swim.

He had decided to show them his ability.

"Here it is!" He smashed his palm into Luffy's face, making his head move back a bit.

Everyone began to get prepared for battle. This man could be capable of anything!

"Hey! Wait, everyone! Stop joking around!" They heard Luffy's voice, but it was nasally.

They looked in surprise at the man. He had transformed into Luffy!

"I ate the Mane Mane Fruit! I can copy anyone's physical appearance!" The Okama claimed as he turned back to normal.

"Of course," He walked to the Straw Hats and touched everyone's face except Vivi and Sanji.

"I don't have to hit them. See?" He proceeded to change into them, ending on Nami.

"It even copies the body too!" He revealed Nami's body to them all.

Zoro and Luffy didn't make an expression. They didn't care too much.

Sanji was in heaven! This was the-

He felt immense pain in his nether regions

This was the worst!

Ussop was surprised! He had never seen a woman's body before.

Chopper was confused. He didn't find humans sexually attractive, so he didn't get it.

Nami was furious as she started to hurt the Okama.

* * *

The Okama then showed them various faces he had copied. One of them had shocked Vivi, as she was shaking.

What did this man have to do with her father?!

The man continued to play around with Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper. They had been impressed by his ability.

"Someone kill them..." Nami couldn't take this anymore. This man had revealed her body and the four of them were annoying her too much.

* * *

"Length of time means nothing to true friendship!" The Okama threw his thumbs up at everyone.

It seemed his ship had arrived.

"We'll see you again!" Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper shouted.

Nami hoped the Okama would be burned alive on his ship.

"Let's go, lovies!" He told his crew as they departed.

"Yes sir! Mr. 2 Bon Clay-sama!"

The Straw Hats were stunned.

That was Mr. 2?!

"I never knew that was him! I've only heard that he was a huge okama, talked like an okama, wore a swan coat which had "okama way" written on the back...!" Vivi screamed.

"You should have noticed." Everyone told her.

* * *

It had been four days since they met Mr. 2.

Zoro told them all it was good that they had met him, they could now develop counter-measures.

They all wore a cloth on their arm with a x underneath it. To make sure it wasn't Mr. 2.

A sea cat emerged from the waters and stared down at the Going Merry.

"Food!" Luffy roared in glee. His eyes were already abyssal.

"The first food in four days!" Zoro had a weird demonic aura around him. Kitetsu shined as he drew it.

The creature saw this and panicked. The sea cat reversed, moving away from the ship.

"Don't let it get away! Kill it!" Sanji was screaming. He didn't want anyone to starve! This was hell!

"No! You can't!" Vivi hit the three on the head and they watched it swim away.

"They're sacred creatures. You ca-"

Luffy tuned the world out as he gnawed on the Going Merry. Not hard enough to damage the wood.

"My food got away..."

He could hear Ussop telling Chopper some stories. Largely embellished stories about himself, but he didn't care. Chopper liked the stories.

* * *

They could see enemy ships in the background, but they could handle it!

The Straw Hats all looked at Luffy who's teeth were daggers. They would let him go first. No point in being in his way while he was this hungry.

He might not know who was the enemy and who was an ally.

Vivi called everyone to huddle up and put their arms in the middle before they started fighting. Luffy reluctantly moved to them.

"Alright!" Vivi yelled, "This mark is a proof of our friendship!"

The Straw Hats cheered and began preparing to fight.

Baroque Works shouldn't have sent weaklings to fight them.

* * *

He didn't know where he was at first, but he knew his face was in a plate of food.

Raising his head off of the plate, Ace realized he had fallen asleep.

Lot's of people were looking at him weirdly though.

He needed to clean his face. He pulled the long skirt of one of the women to his face and rubbed the food bits off. The woman screamed and after he had finished, she ran away.

Ace couldn't help but feel proud of what he had managed to do. Going around to many different islands with his Spade Pirates. The Spade Pirates were currently docked somewhere near the New World with the Whitebeard Pirates. He managed to recruit more members with each Facility he burned down.

Now that was a fight! He actually managed to get Whitebeard to take a knee when he had threatened his crew.

Memories of being unable to protect anything had driven Ace to desperation. He would no longer be unable to protect anything. In fact, he would protect everything!

This was a nice place, but the people were freaking him out.

He made sure he still had his knife. Fond memories of hunting with it and saving Luffy with it flashed through his mind as he began to eat some more.

Ace needed to find Luffy. He hoped that the people of Drum Island gave him his message.

"Jeez, what are you guys getting so worked up about?" He asked the people that were watching him. Luckily, his food remained untouched aside from his face landing in the plate.

"We were worried about you!" The crowd screamed behind him.

"You guys hire comedians or something?" Ace asked the cook.

"No, well, we're gl-"

Ace's world went black as he passed out again. He had the faintest idea of people screaming.

The screaming reminded him too much of what Luffy went through so he woke up.

"Anyways, Pops? Have you seen a guy with a straw hat anywhere?"

The cook took a closer look at the Wanted Poster Ace was showing him. "No, I don't think I've seen him before."

"I guess you don't mind eating in public, 2nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portugas D. Ace." An unfamiliar voice called from the doorway and Ace looked over his shoulder.

The people in the restaurant began to scream! They didn't know one of the Whitebeard Pirates was here!

"I'm on a search for my little brother. I know he likes places like this." Ace replied while he turned in his chair to face the white haired marine.

"So, what can I do for you?" He asked him.

"You can sit tight and be arrested."

"Rejected. I'm sorry, I can't just do that."

"I'm looking for a different pirate, and I'm not really interested in you."

"You're hurting my feelings there, old man. Just let me go."

"I can't do that! As long as I'm a marine and you're a pirate..."

Ace swore he could hear someone shouting "rocket" but he had to pay attention to the marine.

"What a dumb reason! You need to-"

The white haired marine suddenly started flying at him. The marine was screaming in pain and his arms and legs trailed after him in the air.

Ace's eyes popped out of his head as he realized that he couldn't dodge or anything! It was too sudden!

They both went flying through the walls of the restaurant.

* * *

"Hey! Guy! Food! Food! Food!" Luffy shouted. It had been too long since he had eaten! Sure, he might have munched on some of those Building Agents or whatever, but he needed meat!

"Um, kid, maybe you should start running..." The cook noticed the savage light in Luffy's eyes.

"Give me meat! Now! Give me raw meat! I can't wait!" Luffy began to whine. His voice was warped and loud. It scared the crap out of the people watching the scene.

After getting the food from the cook he started shoving it into his mouth as fast as he could.

"This food is great!" Luffy's voice muffled by the warp and the food, "Thank you!"

"No problem...kid, but seriously, you need t-"

"Lu-!"

"STRAW HAT!"

Someone tried to talk to Luffy, but his head was shoved into the ground by this white haired marine.

Luffy kept shoving food into his mouth. This guy was weird.

"So, you're finally here?"

A minute passed and Luffy was still eating the food.

"Damn it! Stop eating already!"

Luffy didn't know who this guy was, but he was yelling at him. Usually, when the marines yell at you, it's best to run away.

Shoving as much food into his mouth as he could, some of it flew out due to the amount and landed on the marine, Luffy started running as fast as he could.

* * *

"Straw Hat! Come back here!"

"Tashigi! Stop that guy! He's Straw Hat!"

This one woman jumped in front of Luffy and tried to cut him.

Luffy jumped as high as he could and he reached the roof of a building and continued to run.

He kept running as fast as he could, but the white guy was still too fast.

"White-

"Heat Haze!"

Fire suddenly erupted behind him and stopped the marines in their tracks.

Luffy turned to see who had done that and saw a being of complete fire.

Luffy saw the thing's face though. He gave a huge grin after seeing who it was.

"Ace!"

"Hey, Luffy! It's been a while!" The flames began to die down.

Standing where the being of fire had stood, Ace grinned at his brother.

* * *

Miss All Sunday just sat on Banchi as she trailed after the Straw Hats. She had to make sure that she was well hidden this time around, as it seemed they would be visited by someone very powerful.

Portugas D. Ace was no one to mess with. She would die if she wasn't careful.

The Going Merry set off from where it had docked.

Ace had bought them some time to get away. He told them he would meet up later.

Vivi had sent Carue to Alabasta. She wanted him to deliver a letter to her father.

Luffy and the others sat down on the deck of the Going Merry. Everyone was exhausted after running away from the marines.

Miss All Sunday formed an ear on the ship.

"You idiot! Conserve our precious water!" Ussop hit Luffy in the head. Luffy had been guzzling the water down at an incredible pace.

She giggled. It seems he didn't know the meaning of rationing.

"So, that guy was your brother? I'm not surprised that you have one, but what's he doing out here?"

"Ah! Ace is a pirate looking for One Piece too! He's three years older than I am!" Luffy was now hanging off the railing of the Going Merry. He had been excited to see his brother after so long!

Now that was a shocker! Portugas D. Ace was Monkey D. Luffy's brother?! And they were both D.s?!

It was interesting to note how strange the world worked.

"What are the chances of two people in the same family having Devil Fruits? That was surprising!" Sanji lit up a cigarette. He seemed to be doing better as he took a sip of the liquid medicine Chopper had given him.

It would probably be a while before he fully recovered.

"I know! Before he left, he didn't have an ability! He was always stronger than me back then!"

"Wait, your brother is stronger than you?!"

Portugas D. Ace was known to attack the World Government Facilities. It was one of the reasons why he had been considered to join Baroque Works.

That is, until he joined Whitebeard.

"You're not an enemy, are you?"

Miss All Sunday turned quickly! She wasn't even able to sense his presence!

"Woah! Hold on there, Miss! I was just wondering why you're spying on my little brother!"

Ace was standing in his boat next to Banchi. The turtle remained stoic as ever.

Miss All Sunday said nothing as she looked in Ace's eyes.

It seemed he had gone through much pain as well. When he mentioned his brother, he seemed to be a bit more protective.

"...I just think the Straw Hats are pretty interesting. They know me, and I know them."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Yes, it is."

"I see...well, don't let me catch you doing anything to weird to my brother now!"

He produced flames from his arms to propel his boat over to the Going Merry.

She wondered why he didn't attack her or do anything.

Ace jumped on the Going Merry and looked as though he was introducing himself. He seemed to be very polite.

She formed an ear again on the ship. Ace's sudden appearance had caused her to dispel it.

Ace suddenly hit Luffy on the head.

"What did I tell you about eating raw meat?!"

"Ow! It hurts! You know how I get! If I see food, it's my food and if it's my food, I eat it." Luffy held his head while he whined.

"That doesn't excuse you from anything!"

Ace settled down, smile returning to his face.

"Luffy...will you come and join the Whitebeard Pirates? With your crew, of course."

To be able to join the Whitebeard Pirates? That was a great honor.

"No way."

Miss All Sunday giggled. Of course Luffy wouldn't join anything. He was more of a leader rather than a follower.

Ace just laughed. He had expected this as well.

"Just thought I would ask."

"Wait, Whitebeard Pirates?! You mean that mark on your back is real?" Ussop couldn't believe it! Whitebead was the strongest pirate in the world at the moment.

"Yep. It's my pride and joy! He's the greatest pirate I've ever known!"

He looked at Luffy with a somewhat guilty look in his eyes.

"I want to make him Pirate King, Luffy. Not you."

"Don't worry about it!" Luffy grinned, "I'll just fight him for it!"

Ace smiled back. He didn't even get mad at hearing Luffy claim he was going to fight Whitebeard.

No one knew this, but if Whitebeard were to ever go after Luffy...

Ace would make him pay.

Sanji noticed that the two had a weird aura about them. It seemed like they were going to get sad if they were to part here.

"Would you like to come in? I can make you some tea." He offered to Ace. Even if Luffy got on his nerves sometimes, Luffy was still his friend.

"No, it's okay." Ace seemed grateful for the offer, "I'm not going to stay long."

"Here, Luffy!" Ace tossed him a piece of paper. It was a bit heavy. "I wanted to give this to you!"

Miss All Sunday knew what it was. It was a vivre card. It allowed one to find another no matter the distance.

It was only given to trusted individuals. The sea was a big place. If someone was able to find you no matter where you were...

"Always keep that with you"

"It's a piece of paper." Luffy stated with a blank face. It was clear he didn't understand what it was.

"Yup, that paper will help us meet again, Luffy."

"Wow..." Luffy seemed to understand a bit. Ace wanted to meet him again in the future.

"Don't want it?" Ace teased.

"NO! I want it." Luffy seemed possessive of the vivre card already.

Ace turned around to prepare to jump into his boat.

"Having a dumb weaker brother, makes an older brother worry. I'm sorry if Luffy causes you all trouble." He said as he addressed the rest of the Straw Hats.

"Please, take care of him for me." Ace looked in her direction as well as he jumped to his boat.

Miss All Sunday dispelled the ear. She had to return to Crocodile now to give him news of Vivi's arrival.

She hoped he wouldn't be too upset from her absence.

* * *

"N-No way!" Nami was shocked, "How could a guy like that be related to a guy like this?!"

Nami looked at Luffy. They had just watched Ace sail away. Luffy was already punching the air, proclaiming that he would get stronger than Ace.

"I was sure he would be just like Luffy when he told us about him!" Ussop couldn't believe it either. Ace might not have been the most polite person, but he was much better than Luffy. He looked over to see Luffy was lifting their water barrel in the air.

"Luffy! Set that down!"

"What a great guy! He cares about his brother!" "Brotherhood is such a great thing..."

Zoro and Chopper were awed by Ace. They had never seen anyone care that much. To travel across many seas just to see his brother!

"I don't get it." Sanji couldn't believe they were related, "The sea is a mysterious place."

* * *

Ace was happy. He had just seen his brother for the first time in three long years.

The days got longer without his little brother there beside him.

He noticed five ships had tried to block him. They tried to tell him something, but he didn't listen to weaklings.

He jumped, sending his craft underwater. With the momentum he had gained, he knew it would be able to go under all the ships and come up from the other side.

Using his flame ability, he flew through the air over the ships. Not quite high enough as he passed by their sails and burned them.

He landed on his watercraft that popped up from the other side of the ships. He cocked his fist back.

"Fire...Fist!" He sent his fist forward, launching a powerful flame that ripped through the five ships and he watched as they sank to the depths below.

"Luffy...I hope you get stronger soon!" Ace was happy.

His brother had found a family of his own, and he was well on his way to reaching his position.

He had waited for this day for three years!

* * *

Miss All Sunday found her back to the wall again as a hand held her there.

Crocodile stood in front of her as they were in his office. A bananawani was sitting in the corner. They were at the wall next to his desk.

She would have preferred the hand to have belonged to someone else.

"Miss All Sunday...where have you been?" Crocodile looked at her with bored eyes. She could tell he was all but bored. She had been gone for a while.

"...I led the princess here, like you ordered." She wouldn't show this man anything but her cryptic smile. Even if she knew he could kill her instantly.

It seemed like he was contemplating something. Maybe he knew what she had done this whole time?

He let her go and walked away to his chair.

"...You have another job to do. I need you to arrange 150 billions agents to go to Nanohana."

"Yes, sir. I understand." She turned to walk away, but a hand grabbed her arm.

"All the officers will be meeting at the Spiders Cafe at 8 o'clock tonight. After you're done stationing the troops, you are to report back here."

"Yes, sir." She left.

Miss All Sunday headed to where they kept the animals. She had to let Banchi go. He was supposed to bring the other agents to Rainbase.

Before he had left, Banchi nuzzled Miss All Sunday once. He had never done that before.

She would miss Banchi too. A F-Wani was assigned to her.

Miss All Sunday began to write letters to the agents near Nanohana. She would be using Erimaki Runners to relay them the messages.

* * *

The Going Merry had docked at Erumalu and they were already having loads of adventures!

Vivi and Nami made him wear this weird robe. It was comfy, but it was hot too!

First, he watched Ussop get beaten up by a dugong! It was so funny!

Then, he beat up the dugong for Ussop since he knew Ussop would never be able to fight it and win.

After that, Vivi and Nami tried to explain the mystery powder to him.

It was long and boring, so mystery powder! Zoro agreed.

Luffy was having a great time! Though it was really hot outside.

He listened to Vivi's story about how her dad was framed for bringing the mystery powder to Alabasta and stealing the rain from other areas.

"Dang, Vivi! Your dad is evil!" Luffy shouted while he pointed at Vivi.

"You weren't listening at all, were you, Luffy?!" Sanji kicked him in the head, but it didn't hurt Luffy.

Sanji looked weird though. He clutched at his kintama and fell to the ground. He looked funny to Luffy.

Chopper started telling Sanji to take it easy for another day. Any strenuous activity would hurt him.

"It's already strenuous for Sanji to be alive." Zoro said while he looked away from Sanji, "I'm already feeling tired of his existence."

"What was that you shitty moss head?" Sanji said while his face was still in the ground. He didn't have enough strength to fight back.

Luffy was about to laugh, but Vivi started to cry.

"It was all a trap set by Crocodile! Everything worked out, just like he planned! Many towns dried up and caused death, anger, and mayhem! Rebels started to gather to fight a country they thought was evil!"

He didn't like the sound of those words. Someone gaining enough power to do what they wanted. To kill and make others suffer.

Luffy didn't like those kinds of people. Those were the kinds of people that would torture others to get what they wanted.

"The Kingdom's peace...the trust in the royal family...the rain! Towns! Even people's lives were all taken by that one man!" She let a few tears slide down her cheek. She was trying to stay strong, even when it seemed that everything was happening according to that one man's plan.

"Crocodile! What right does he have to do this to us?!"

"I will never..ever let him get away with this!"

Vivi had tried so hard. She did everything she could. Crocodile just had more resources! More men! Mo-

She heard a crash and a building had fallen down.

Luffy, Ussop, and Sanji were walking away from it towards their destination.

"Everyone! Hurry up!" Luffy shouted as the knuckles in his hand cracked as he clenched his fist.

"I'm getting anxious."

Vivi gave a small smile towards them. She had something she knew a man like Crocodile didn't have much of.

She had friends.

* * *

The Straw Hats soon learned a vital fact of the desert.

It was really hot.

Luffy was panting. His skin smelled weird as he slowly trudged through the sand.

Zoro was sweating profusely. It was too hot for even him.

Ussop was using a stick to prop himself up. He trailed slowly behind.

Sanji could take the heat. He was a cook after all.

Nami was sweating, but it wasn't too bad. The outfit she had was a bit ventilated.

Vivi was absolutely fine. She grew up here.

Chopper had to be dragged. His fur made the heat even worse.

"Water..." Luffy begged to be allowed to have a sip from the water barrel.

"Alright," Nami told him, "Only enough to fill your mouth."

Luffy stretched his mouth as much as he could as he filled it with water. His cheeks were the size of Chopper.

He got into a fight with Sanji and Ussop. What was wrong with having 13 sips like this anyway?

"Sanji! Open a lunchbox! We're eating!" Luffy thought that if they ate, he wouldn't feel so bad.

"Sorry, not until Vivi gives the okay."

"No, Sanji-san."

"There's your answer, Luffy."

"Jeez, Vivi. You're stupid. Haven't you heard of the proverb, "Eat when thou art hungry"?"

Ussop could tell a lie when he heard one, "You made that up, Luffy."

* * *

"Alright, everyone. Time to play rock-paper-scissors to see who has to carry the luggage!"

Everyone was taking a big risk. If the one that lost couldn't carry it, they wou-

"Why do I have to carry all the luggage?!" Luffy shouted. It was so unfair! Rock was supposed to beat everything!

"Sorry, Luffy! You lost so you get to haul all of it!"

"Hey! Look! Rocks are up ahead!"

Luffy had never run so fast in his life. He sat down in the shade the rocks provided.

"Ah! This is nice." Looking to the side, he saw some birds in pretty bad shape.

* * *

"Luffy! Are you alright?" Vivi asked him when the rest of the Straw Hats arrived at the rock Luffy sat near.

"I'm great!" Luffy was cleaning his teeth. Bird skeletons laid next to him.

Everyone began to rest. This was the first time they had sat down in a while.

"What's that running towards us?" Zoro said as he stared into the desert. What looked like a weird camel and a giant lizard were running towards where they sat.

"That's a Giant Sandora Lizard!" Vivi yelled. This was bad! Giant Sandora Lizards were very strong!

"What kind of star was I born under?" Sanji asked himself as he stood up. He wouldn't let this shitty lizard bother Nami-swan or Vivi-chan.

He found out that he could not look at beautiful women for too long. His nether regions were burn like crazy.

Being sick sucked.

Zoro unsheathed his swords.

It had been a while since he got to do anything.

Luffy just saw meat on legs. It was eating time!

Luffy and Sanji jumped into the air while Zoro charged it from the ground.

"Gum Gum...!" "Epaule...!" "Tatsu...!"

"Whip!" "Shoot!" "Maki!"

Zoro spun in a circle with his blades, cutting the beast's throat and sent blood flying from its wounds.

Sanji smashed its head in, causing blood and bits of bone flying from its head.

Luffy swung his stretched out leg into the lizard's side, making its ribs collapse and rupturing internal organs.

The witnesses to this were shocked! Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were monsters on their own. The three of them fighting one lizard was overkill.

* * *

"Okay! I'll go o-ouch!"

The camel bit Luffy. He was trying to ride it since they had saved it from being eaten by the lizard.

"I am just a passing camel. Thanks for saving me. I'll let you ride me, but I won't let any guys get on." Chopper translated for the camel.

Luffy, Ussop, and Sanji started beating the camel up. What kind of gratitude was that?!

"I'm sorry for my bandits hurting you." Nami pulled the camels away and started to pet the camel.

The camel had hearts for eyes and blood dripped from its nose.

"What should I call you?"

"Idiot." "Moron." "Dumb-ass."

Luffy, Sanji, and Ussop suggested.

"How about, Eyelashes?" Nami inputted.

Zoro thought that was worse than the other names.

Eyelashes didn't care what she called him. Just as long as they rode him.

* * *

Vivi had also gotten on Eyelashes as he started to take them to Yuba.

"Hurry up, everyone!" Nami yelled back at them, "If you're not fast enough, you'll get lost and never get out of the desert alive!"

"Ah!" Luffy screamed, surprising the other male Straw Hats, "Tsunami!"

"What's wrong with him?" Zoro asked. He was nervous since the camel was getting farther and farther away from them.

With the only two that could get them out of the desert.

"After we ate the lizard meat, he ate this cactus over there!" Ussop saw the same thing Zoro had.

"Was it like this?" Chopper pointed to one of the cactus nearby.

"Yes! It was like that!" Luffy started to thrash around, stretching his limbs everywhere. He accidentally hit Ussop and Sanji in their faces.

"Oh no! He ate a mescal cactus! It causes hallucinations!"

"Gum Gum Gum Gum...!" Luffy was freaking out. He was about to attack everyone.

Chopper ran up to Luffy and stuck him with a needle.

"Tranquilizer...success!" Chopper noticed that Luffy reacted a bit too strongly to the tranquilizer.

"Right! Good job, Chopper!" Sanji was glad that Chopper subdued Luffy. He was going to kill him later.

"Oh no! Look how far that camel is!" Zoro was pointing where he had last seen the camel. It couldn't be seen anymore.

They began to run towards the camel's direction. They had traveled for a long time. Ussop almost got lost as he became too weak to move and had to be carried with Luffy.

Luffy woke up after the tranquilizer wore off and everyone beat him up.

* * *

"Those fools...are not here anymore."

The Straw Hats couldn't believe it. They had finally arrived in Yuba to discover it looked just like Erumalu.

They found one man still in the city of Yuba. A scrawny, malnourished man named Toto.

He told them that the rebels were no longer in Yuba. They had moved to Katorea. A town next to Nanohana.

"Vivi! Where is that?"

Vivi was shocked. After crossing the desert, after their travel here...

"It's a town next to Nanohana."

Nanohana was where they met Ace.

"What?! Why did we come here then?!"

"Vivi?" Toto asked, "Did you just say Vivi?"

"Ah! No, old man! Vivi isn't a princess or anything!" Luffy shouted, not knowing what he had just said.

"Don't tell him!" Zoro and Nami hit him. He couldn't keep a secret at all.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" Toto said as he approached Vivi.

"Don't you remember me? I guess not. I've lost some weight."

Vivi suddenly remembered him. He was Mr. Toto! The father of her friend Kohza!

He used to be fat, but healthy! What happened to him?! He looked like he had wasted away!

"Mr. Toto?!" Toto could see the recognition in Vivi's eyes.

"Listen to me, Vivi-chan! I-I believe in the king! He would never betray our country! Isn't that right?!"

Toto was crying. He had stayed in this decrepit city for three long years.

Three years of being dehydrated, of starving, of watching the headlines about the deaths of thousands!

"This rebellion is silly, Vivi-chan! Please...I beg you! Stop those fools!"

Luffy thought it was a bit rude, to put all of this on one person.

"We can stop the rebellion!" Vivi said with a smile as she handed Toto a handkerchief to dry his tears.

Luffy knew it was a fake smile. He could tell.

This was too much for one person to handle. Vivi was at her breaking point.

They had been given a place to stay by Toto. He was a really nice old man.

* * *

"Good work for today, boys!" Ussop exclaimed, "Let's all take a rest to replenish our strength for tomorrow! Goodnight!" He quickly chose the bed he thought looked best.

"You've been sleeping the entire day! We had to carry you!"

Ussop threw a pillow at Zoro which smacked him in the head.

"Shut up! I'm not a monster like all of you!"

"Sanji-san, that's mine..." Vivi tried to get Sanji to get out of her bed.

"I figured you didn't want to sleep alone tonight."

"Watch out, Vivi." Zoro warned, "He's got quite the surprise under his pants."

"You rude buffoon! I just didn't want Vivi to feel lonely at night!"

"Sure, pervert cook."

Ussop threw a pillow at Sanji's head.

"You bastard! That's it!"

"What the hell?! That wasn't me!"

The pillow fight grew as it included Vivi and Chopper.

* * *

Luffy sat outside with Toto.

"Hey, mister! There's no water! My throats dried out!" Luffy whined.

"It must be hard to live here." Luffy said with a slightly more serious tone. He knew what it was like to live without.

"The water will come. Yuba's oasis will not be beaten by mere sand!"

"If the sand covers it up, I'll just dig it away again. This was the land given to me by the king! My friend!"

Luffy smiled a bit. He liked this guy.

"Alright! Let's dig up some water!" He jumped down to assist the old man. He started digging.

"Hey! Wait!" Toto shouted, "Stop that! You're digging the wrong way!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The sand from your hole is going into mine! That defeats the purpose of digging a hole in the first place!"

Luffy paused as he thought this over.

"Ah! So it's a mystery hole!"

Toto sighed. This was going to take a while.

After he dug some more, Toto checked on Luffy.

He was snoring peacefully in the deep hole he had dug.

Toto couldn't be mad at him. He had helped a lot.

He took Luffy out of the hole and laid him down in the inn he provided for the Straw Hats.

Renewed by the spirit Luffy had shown him, Toto restarted his digging with more drive than he had done for a long while.

* * *

Miss All Sunday took this chance to enjoy the night breeze.

They had just finished the debriefing. The final plan was to begin tomorrow.

Crocodile didn't trust her anymore. She could tell. Then again, he never trusted her from the start.

As long as she made herself useful, she was allowed to live.

Miss All Sunday went to where they usually kept the mounts they used to travel through the desert. She wanted to see Banchi. He was her constant companion, and though he couldn't talk or show much emotion, she had grown attached to him.

Banchi was the same as usual. He was going to be some of the agents transport as they completed various missions tomorrow.

He looked up at her, face stoic as ever. It seemed as though he didn't remember her.

Banchi's head tried to nuzzle her. That was surprising. Banchi was known to not care about agents. He was actually ordered to leave agents behind if it was necessary.

She would miss him, she thought as she left the stables.

* * *

Luffy and the Straw Hats were preparing to leave. They needed to make it back to Katorea.

Toto stopped Luffy and gave him a gallon of water which he had been able to dig up thanks to Luffy's help. Luffy shakily accepted the water. He treasured the water he had been given and was very careful with it.

It had been a hour since they started their traveling. Luffy had suddenly sat down next to a withered tree.

"I quit."

"What?! What do you mean, "you quit"?!"

"We're going back, right?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah, we're going back by using the road we used yesterday to get to Katorea. We'll be stopping a civil war from killing a million people! This is for Vivi, Luffy!" Sanji explained to Luffy.

"Boring."

"What did you say?!"

"Vivi, I want to smash Crocodile's head in, but stopping a civil war won't stop him. We can't do anything when we get to Katorea because we're pirates. You'd be better off on your own."

None of the Straw Hats said anything. It was true that they were pirates. The most they could do is stand out of the way so they wouldn't make things worse.

Vivi didn't say anything. She knew that they couldn't do anything as well.

"You want to stop a man like Crocodile, a Shikibukai, who is going to cause a war between a million people, and you don't want anyone to die."

Luffy looked her in the eyes. "That's naïve."

Vivi was getting frustrated. They were wasting time discussing what she wanted?

"What's wrong with that?!"

"People die."

Vivi couldn't take that statement. She hit Luffy hard and watched as he fell to the ground.

"Don't talk like that! That's what we're trying to stop! You can't blame the army or the rebels for this! This is all Crocodile's fault!"

Luffy rose up and punched her in the face. He watched as she struggled to keep her balance. He didn't put that much force into it.

"Then why are you risking your life?! Why do you think your life is less important than theirs?!"

The two continued to fight. The Straw Hats watched, though some were more vocal than others.

"You shitty rubberman! Don't hurt Vivi!" "That's going way too far, Luffy!"

Zoro and Nami stood in silence. They realized what Luffy was saying.

"Because I only have my life to risk! I don't have anything else to give!"

"You can try risking our lives! I thought we were friends?!"

Vivi stopped hitting Luffy. She didn't want to risk their lives!

"You're crying." He noted as he watched her try to hide her tears, "You're the one that wants to kill him the most."

She kept crying. She didn't want anymore death! She didn't want to risk her friend's lives! Why did she have to go through this?!

Vivi realized it was all Crocodile's fault. Even if she didn't want anymore death...she wanted to kill him.

"Tell me where he is, Vivi." Luffy asked.

This man needed to die.

* * *

The Straw Hats decided to head to Rainbase, a gambling town to the north of Yuba.

That was where Crocodile was. That's where they needed to be.

"Gum Gum...!"

"...No way!" Luffy stretched his arms with the gallon of water he had been given by Toto.

"Come on, Luffy! Just one sip! That's what it's for!" Ussop was desperately thirsty. He had done a whole lot of being carried around! He was thirsty.

"Old Mister Sandy Guy gave this water to us after digging all night! We can't just drink it right away, moron!"

Ussop looked defeated. Luffy was too stubborn to waste energy on.

"So you really can restrain yourself?" Nami was surprised. It looked like Luffy was still full of them.

"Of course I can! How rude!"

* * *

After 16 hours, they finally arrived at Rainbase.

"Take a look, Nami! This is your new weapon, the Climatact!"

Nami had asked Ussop if he could build her a weapon, and he had done so! She was happy!

"You don't need to make any weapons for Nami-swan or Vivi-chan! Cause I'll protect them! Just call me, "Prince"!"

"Prince." Zoro said aloud.

"Not you, you shitty moss head!"

* * *

The Straw Hats sat on the ground to relax. They were currently inside Rainbase.

They sent Luffy and Ussop to go get the water. They had been the most enthusiastic of them all to do so.

"Do you think it was a good idea to send them to get the water?" Nami asked the group. She had been thinking about that decision.

"It's only an errand. They can do it." Sanji took another puff of his cigarette.

"Maybe we should prepare if they get into trouble." Zoro said as he cared for his swords. That sand seemed to get everywhere.

"Oh crap...they're being chased by marines..." Sanji said as he looked behind the wall he had been next to.

"Why are they running over here?!"

"What about Tony-kun?!" Chopper had gone off to use the restroom.

"Leave him, he'll be fine!"

The Straw Hats started running. Luffy and Ussop had lured the marines to them.

"You idiots! Why did you bring them over here?!"

"Hey, Vivi! Let's go take out Crocodile! It's already too late to be sneaky!"

"Alright, he owns that casino over there! Rain Dinners!"

"Let's all split up!"

The Straw Hats split up. It seemed Luffy managed to run into Smoker again as smoke followed him as he jumped building to building.

* * *

Sanji had easily taken out many of the marines. They were nothing without the smoke-bastard!

Zoro felt his sword's auras and was pleased.

They wanted a battle.

The small fry was easy to take care of. He'd be able to take all the marines out by him-

"Roronoa Zoro!"

'Oh no,' He thought, 'Not that voice again..."

Nami and Ussop had gotten lucky! First, Ussop manages to take out the Billions agents chasing them, then Zoro takes out the marines in their way! It was weird though, he looked like he was panicking.

Finally! Things were starting to look up for them!

"Come on, everyone! Go into the casino!" Luffy shouted as they began to head towards it. Sanji and Chopper were missing.

Hopefully, Baroque Works' building could protect them.

Luffy and the Straw Hats saw Miss All Sunday in the corner. She pointed towards a hallway in the back.

"Thank you!" Luffy shouted to her as he ran towards the hallway. Smokey was still following them.

* * *

The Straw Hats, plus Smoker, found themselves stuck in a cage made out of seastone.

"You know, I think she was actually pointing towards the VIP room." Luffy muttered.

"Yes, I agree." Ussop nodded his head with Luffy.

"You two are so stupid! Dragging us towards the room labeled "Pirates"! Who the hell just names one of the rooms that?!" Nami was more than upset. They had been trapped in an unknown place behind what seemed like unbreakable bars.

Luffy tried chomping on the bars, but he said they taste bad and couldn't dent them.

Smoker stayed silent while he sat on part of the room long bench. There wasn't much to do and Straw Hat was beginning to annoy him.

Zoro watched Smoker get up and take his jutte off his back.

"Luffy! Watch out!"

Smoker tried to hit Luffy, but Luffy turned around and smacked the tip to the ground.

"What's the deal, old man? I haven't done anything."

Luffy began to crack his knuckles.

'Looks like I have to beat this guy up.'

Zoro put a hand on his swords as well. He was prepared to back Luffy up if he needed too.

"Cut it out, you'll kill yourselves before I get to."

Everyone turned towards the opening of the cage and saw Crocodile sitting down at a table.

He was a tall man with a green coat that hung around his shoulders. He had a smug look on his face.

"Now," He began as he noticed everyone was paying attention to him, "Why can't we all be friends?"

Luffy tuned most of the speech out. The only thing he payed any attention to was when he heard the smokey guy call this man "Crocodile".

A loud bang came from the cage when Luffy slammed against the bars.

"Hey! You!"

"You did well to come this far, Straw Hat! I never expected to meet you, but I'll be killing you very soon. After all, the guest of honor has yet to arrive!"

"I just sent my partner to go pick her up!"

* * *

Vivi found herself surrounded by many Baroque Works agents. This was it...she would die here...

"You've caused us quite the trouble, Princess! But don't worry...we'll take good care of you!"

Or she would be tortured for an indefinite amount of time and then killed.

The agents were then assaulted by a giant falcon with machine guns mounted on its shoulders.

The falcon picked her up and flew to the top of a building nearby.

"Pell!" Pell was one of the royal guards to the Alabasta kingdom! She never expected to see him here!

"Please, wait here, Princess! I'll take care of these guys..." He took off towards the agents, appearing behind them while he had already cut them all.

"Tobi Zume!"

He had moved so fast! Nobody even saw him move.

"You saved me, Pell! Now, we must hurry to where the others are!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking."

Vivi paled. She knew that voice.

She turned to face Miss All Sunday.

"Hello again, Princess." She kept walking to the edge of the building and looked down at Pell.

"I've never seen a human that could fly! But I wonder..."

"If you're stronger than me?"

"Vivi-sama! Is this one of the people who are trying to destroy the country?!"

Vivi couldn't talk. She knew that this woman was too powerful for even Pell.

"If you don't mind, I would like to take the princess here to our mansion to introduce her to some friends."

"Stop joking. I won't let you do such a thing." Pell didn't like this woman. She seemed so confident that they were no threat to her.

Vivi tried to attack Miss All Sunday, but she was restrained.

"That's so un-ladylike, attacking me like that."

"Pell! Go to Rain Dinners and save the Straw Hats!"

"Princess?"

"Enough of this."

Miss All Sunday pulled Vivi towards her and an arm sprung out from behind Vivi.

It looked like she had just been impaled.

"VIVI-SAMA! DAMN YOU!" Pell flew with great speed. Miss All Sunday couldn't even see him.

Even if she couldn't see him, she had other abilities to rely on.

"Tres Fleur!"

Pell was almost upon Miss All Sunday when arms suddenly grew on his body. They grabbed, then pulled on his wings and arms, sending him tumbling on the roof the women were on.

He looked shocked. He was sure the arms belonged to the vile lady, but he didn't kn-

"Fufufufu...it looked like I killed her, didn't it?" Miss All Sunday was excited. It had been a while since she had been in a fight.

"What did you do?! Do you have a power as well?!" Pell drew his sword. If she had a power, this would be troublesome.

"Yes. I ate the Hana Hana Fruit. As long as my body is willing, parts of it can grow wherever I want."

"I won't let you escape from me now, Royal Guard."

"Escape?!" Pell was furious, "I won't let you escape! I'll avenge Ingram-sama right here!"

'Oh? Looks like they don't know he still lives.' She thought as she watched Pell rush towards her.

"Really?...I'm sorry then. It looks like I don't have enough time to play with you."

"Don't you worry about the time! I'll end you here!" Pell was getting closer, though it didn't matter.

"I don't think you understand." Miss All Sunday ran towards Pell as well.

"Seis Fleur!"

Arms held Pell, pulling his arms, head, and legs away from his torso.

"Power...speed...they mean nothing to me." With her new ability, this statement was very true.

"Clutch!" She moved past Pell, swinging her arms forward as she did so.

The sound of breaking bones could be heard in the air. Vivi was screaming.

She had broken his neck, arms, and legs. He wouldn't be walking around very soon.

Or, not at all if she put more power than he could handle in it.

She started walking towards Vivi. Pell's broken body fell to the roof with a sick thud.

"Now, Princess. I need you to meet one of my friends." Miss All Sunday wore a smile.

"His name's Mr. 0 and he's been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

* * *

Miss All Sunday watched from the top of the stairs. She had brought Vivi to Rainbase's secret hideout.

She saw Vivi attempt to attack Crocodile to no avail. His Sand Sand Fruit's ability prevented normal means of attacking him.

Crocodile held Vivi close to him. Miss All Sunday had to not show emotion at such a vile act.

She didn't even want to know what he had planned for her.

Miss All Sunday started to descend down the stairs.

"You bastard! Let Vivi go!" Luffy roared from the cage. It seemed he had already transformed a bit.

The seastone seem to prevent him from fully transforming as he still had his normal eyes and face.

His teeth were a bit sharp though.

Crocodile threw Vivi into an empty chair. Miss All Sunday formed hands to tie her in it.

"It's just about time for the party to begin, am I wrong, Miss All Sunday?"

She could see Luffy, Roronoa Zoro, Navigator-chan, Long Nose-kun, and Captain Smoker turn towards her as she continued.

Luffy had a surprised look on his face. Like he expected her to help him.

She ignored him as much as she could.

"You are correct. It's past 7 o'clock. 9 hours left until Plan Utopia begins."

She listened to Crocodile as he told the group of his great plan. How the Rebels and the Royal Guard would fight and kill themselves. Eventually, Crocodile would be able to take over the country by killing the "evil king" himself and the public would worship him as royalty.

* * *

"Kuhahaha! Isn't that a tearjerker?" Crocodile looked at Vivi while he talked, "Love for one's country is what will end up destroying it in the end!"

Zoro wanted to cut this guy into pieces. To manipulate the emotions of the people like this...

Luffy started to glare at Crocodile. He wanted to smash his face in!

"Do you want to know why I want to control your country, Princess?" Crocodile walked towards Vivi.

"How am I supposed to know what goes on in your twisted mind?!" Vivi struggled as much as she could, but the rope had been fastened too tightly.

"Hmm...a foul mouthed princess..." Crocodile just kept smirking. He liked it when they struggled.

Crocodile caressed Vivi's cheek. She shuddered visibly and forced her chair to the side, sending her to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"We can still stop you! If we just head east from here to Alubarna, there's a chance that we can get there before the Rebels and stop the fighting!"

Crocodile chuckled.

"Isn't that odd? We were just heading there to ask your daddy a question..." He spoke in his mocking tone. He was enjoying this.

"What?! What are you going to do to my father?!" Vivi shouted in fear from her position on the floor.

"Which is more important to you, Ms. Wednesday?" It seemed Crocodile even knew her codename.

"Your friends?" He looked at the Straw Hats plus Smoker. He held a key up which looked like it would open the gate.

"Or your country?" He threw the key towards the ground in front of the cage.

Luffy's fingers stretched towards it, surprising most in the room, but he was unable to get a hold of the key as it dropped through a pitfall trap he had installed.

Luffy huffed in frustration. He was so close!

"What will you do, Ms. Wednesday?" He shook his surprise off quickly. Straw Hat's transformation was strong.

Vivi could only stare in shock at the pitfall opening. She knew it led to Crocodile's pet bananawani habitat.

"Woah! Look at that! Crocodiles are growing out of the bananas!"

"What? No, Luffy. The bananas are growing out of the crocodiles."

"What weird bananas."

"Hey! They're weird crocodiles, not weird bananas!"

"Looking at the pen now, I think we're underwater!"

"We'll just take our leave now." Crocodile was growing tired of listening to the idiots speak. He preferred to not listen to trash.

He and Miss All Sunday started heading for the exit. It was a large door that led away from the underwater base.

"This room will also flood in one hour. Think about it, Princess. One million lives, or four pirates?"

"Do you like gambling, Princess? Kuhahahaha! This was so easy to do! Surrounded by so many idiots! Especially that rebel leader and foolish, hole-digging, old man..."

"What? You mean that sandy old guy in Uba?"

Crocodile turned to Luffy, who was unknowingly being corrected by Ussop.

"So, you know him? What a stupid old geezer! Digging up a well that's been long dead. Hilarious, right?"

Miss All Sunday hid her face with her hat. She knew what was going to happen next.

Luffy just grit his teeth. Forget beating him up, he was going to devour this guy!

"And he thinks he can overcome sandstorms over and over...tell me, Straw Hat. Do you think sandstorms can successfully attack one town so many times?"

"What does that mean?" "Don't tell me he..."

Crocodile formed a small sandstorm in his hand, laughing as he did so.

_'Yuba cannot be defeated by mere sand..' _

Luffy was beyond angry. "You did that!"

Vivi could only think of how skinny and frail Toto was as he tried to be more recognizable for her sake.

Crocodile began to laugh loudly as he and Miss All Sunday passed through the doorway. Miss All Sunday still kept her sight to the ground as she listened the cries of Ussop.

Vivi wanted to do something! She needed to do at least one thing!

She couldn't. She couldn't save anything...

"Vivi! Do something! Get us out of here!"

She turned towards Luffy. He had the expression of absolute hate on his demonic face.

"Begging for you life already, Straw Hat? Kuhahaha! I guess everyone's afraid of d-"

"IF WE DIE HERE, WHO'S GOING TO STOP HIM?!" Luffy's warped voice interrupted Crocodile.

Crocodile turned his head to glare at Luffy with a smirk on his face.

"Don't get too conceited, little man."

"No! That's you! You're the little one!" Luffy sneered back at Crocodile as he kept walking.

A bananawani came up from the pen and stalked towards Vivi.

"If you're going to abandon them, now's the time to do so, Princess!" Crocodile chuckled as he watched Vivi flinch in fear.

The Straw Hats watched as Vivi attempted to attack the monster, but it easily brushed her aside.

The bananawani was then distracted by the ringing of a Baby Den Den Mushi snail phone.

"What?" Miss All Sunday wasn't in the mood for talking right now as she answered her phone.

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?" A strange voice came through the snail phone. It was a bit off as distance distorted the voice.

"Yes, I can. You're a millions agent, aren't you?" The intelligence of the speaker seemed like one.

"Hey! Spit it out already!" Crocodile was impatient. Miss All Sunday was the one that usually took care of things, but she had already irritated him.

"Ah! I know that voice!" The man on the other end cleared his throat.

"Welcome, sir. This is the Shitty Restaurant." Crocodile flinched as he heard that voice. It was the same one he had heard when he called Mr. 3's phone!

"You!"

"Nice...you remembered."

Miss All Sunday just looked at Crocodile with a small, unreadable smile. She knew who this was.

"San-!" Apparently, so did Luffy before he was silenced by his comrades.

They listened as the man on the phone wanted them to refer to him as, "Mr. Prince".

"Save us, Mr. Prince!"

"Ah! Those are the voices of my wonderful crew! I'll be on my way rig-gah!" A gunshot could be heard halfway through "Mr. Prince's" speech.

Crocodile just laughed as he heard that. The agent on the other end of the Baby Den Den Mushi told him that they had him in front of Rain Dinners.

He decided to pay this, "Mr. Prince", a visit. Miss All Sunday followed him.

"Princess, I've decided to make your choice for you." Crocodile's hand shot out and pulled her to him.

"I think I'll just take you with me!" The Straw Hats outraged and he could hear loud bangs coming from the bars as Straw Hat hit them.

Vivi struggled in his grip, but no matter. She would learn what it means to mess around with him.

* * *

Crocodile, Vivi, and Miss All Sunday were outside Rain Dinners, looking at the Billions agents that had been demolished.

"What happened here?!" Crocodile demanded. Where was this Mr. Prince?

"This one guy...called himself Mr. Prince showed up and destroyed us!" One of the agents said, "There he is...right there!" He pointed to a retreating figure before passing out.

Miss All Sunday saw a large man hiding the wrong way behind a building. She wanted to giggle, but frowned instead.

She didn't know what was going on...but she made a promise.

"Why don't you let him go?" She asked Crocodile.

"Don't joke around. He needs to learn what it means to go against me." Crocodile was already turning into sand, throwing Vivi over to her.

Vivi had her mouth shut by a gag. Miss All Sunday did not wish to learn why Crocodile carried that with him.

She saw Sanji rush by her, he was unseen by Crocodile.

Forming a mouth on his shoulder, she began to speak with him.

"Cook-san?"

Sanji suddenly fell to the ground, muttering something about "Miss All Beautiful Sunday" before gasping in pain, and reaching for his genitals.

It seemed he had not healed yet.

She told him how to lower the bridge so Crocodile could not get back inside. Sanji listened and obeyed.

Miss All Sunday wished him luck as she saw Crocodile return. Luckily, he did not have Chopper in his hand.

* * *

"Anti-Manner Kick Course!"

The bananawani was lifted off the ground by an immense force. Its stomach was ruptured and it spat out blood and a weird looking white ball.

Sanji had arrived just in time. The water was up to the captive Straw Hat's knees.

More bananawanis began to enter the room.

"Bring it on, you bananas! I'll take you all on!"

He could hear Ussop and Luffy talking about whether or not the bananawanis were crocodiles or bananas.

"Look! Even Sanji agrees with me! They're bananas!"

"No! They're crocodiles! Look how small that banana is!"

"It doesn't matter! Bananas and crocodiles are just food anyway!"

Sanji took care of the bananawanis, eventually, he had managed to make them all throw up and a key popped out of one of them.

He tried making it work, but it wasn't the right key!

"That stupid Banana! He didn't give us the right key!"

"Banana?" Ussop was confused, "Wait! You mean Crocodile?! How cou-"

"Doru Doru Ball Freedom!" A weird voice called out.

They all looked over to see Mr. 3 coming out of the white ball the first one threw up.

"W-Water! I'm alive!"

"Hey! Can't you use his wax powers to make a key for this cage?!" Ussop yelled out. They didn't have much time!

Sanji asked Mr. 3 to make a key and he did so. He didn't seem hesitant for some reason.

"Wow, that power of yours is really handy. Thanks." Sanji told him.

He just seemed a bit embarrassed. He was one of the types that liked praise.

Sanji kicked him hard in the head sending him unconscious and flying across the room.

"Alright everyone! Let's go!"

"Yeah! Let's go rescue Vivi!" Luffy shouted as he ran by Sanji.

"...What?! What do you mean rescue Vivi?!"

* * *

Crocodile was pissed. He made his emotions known as sand began to run down his body.

He and his "companions" had gone back to check on the status of his prisoners. He expected them to be dead.

Instead, they find Mr. 3 floating on a piece of wood with the note "You're a croc of shit. -Prince" waiting for them.

This day was so frustrating! This was supposed to be his glorious rise to power!

Not being humiliated by a bunch of rookies!

They were now headed towards Alubarna. Some F-Wanis were parked behind a sand dune.

At least he still ha-

"Gum Gum Bullet!"

A fist hit his face and sent him flying.

How was he able to get hit?!

Luffy landed next to Miss All Sunday who was still carrying Vivi.

"Gum Gum No way!"

He looked her in the eyes and took Vivi out of her arms.

She took a few steps back as he did so. He looked bloodthirsty.

It looks like he hadn't forgiven her for working with Crocodile.

Luffy tossed Vivi to his crew mates that were traveling on a moving crab, which was strange given that moving crabs were rare.

"All of you! Go to Alubarna and stop that rebellion!" He yelled out.

They started to say something, but they were too far away for their voices to be heard.

It seemed Luffy was able to hear them as he kept his sights still on their fading figures.

Crocodile appeared behind him and backhanded him with his hook. Luffy went sailing through the air and landed on his head.

"I'm getting tired of you, Straw Hat!" Crocodile had reached his limit. He was done playing around with this piece of trash.

"You know she's so weak, but she always wants to save everything." Luffy said as he stood up.

"She wants no one to suffer, or die, even if it means she has to go through so much pain..."

"Without anyone dying? What a fool! She doesn't even begin to understand real fighting." Crocodile seemed to actually take notice of Luffy's experience for once. "You agree with me, don't you?"

"I do." Luffy looked at Crocodile. His face was blank as he said those words. Vivi might have fought, killed, maimed people as Ms. Wednesday, but she didn't comprehend the actual fighting that was soon to take place.

"But, as long as you live, she will fight till she dies. I'm going to stop you to prevent that." Luffy cracked his knuckles and his skin turned white.

"Kuhahaha! You're beyond saving! Those who conspire with others all die because of it! I've left hundreds like you in the dust!"

"My family is what makes me strong, I guess you're pretty stupid not to notice that."

Miss All Sunday laughed. She knew exactly what he meant as she had seen it in these past weeks.

"What are you laughing at, Nico Robin?" Crocodile asked with a angry sneer. It seemed like everyone was taking him for a fool, "Do you want to die as well?!"

"If that's how you feel about it, do as you wish." She wore a smile on her face as she turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go ahead to Alubarna. Enjoy your fight." She called out as she disappeared into the town.

Crocodile threw a sand glass near Luffy's feet.

"I'll give you thr-"

He was interrupted as he had to move his head to avoid a white fist from connecting.

Luffy had already transformed into a monster, his belongings thrown to the side. He was tired of all this waiting!

"Hm! Impatient little rodent!" Crocodile muttered as he sent a blade of sand at Luffy.

"Desert Spada!"

The desert itself was being cut in half, though Luffy didn't notice as he kept running towards Crocodile.

He dodged enough to the side so it would pass by him, arms staying in place as he got closer.

"Gum Gum Bazooka!" He cried out, his arms flying towards Crocodile's body, though they passed through.

Crocodile tried to impale Luffy on his hook, but Luffy barreled through him, following his arms' motion.

"Let me tell you one thing, Straw Hat." Crocodile spoke as he started to reform his body, "You will never, ever-"

"Gum Gum Gattling Gun!" Luffy yelled as his arms repeatedly struck Crocodile, interrupting him in the process.

Luffy ran towards Crocodile as he continued his assault with his arms, and when he got close, he rose his leg up high in the air, striking Crocodile's head, though he turned into sand.

"Gum Gum Stamp!"

"These mosquito attacks are worthless against me because you will neve-"

"Gum Gum Axe!" Luffy brought the leg that had been stretched due to the stamp to come back down upon Crocodile, interrupting him again.

Crocodile formed some distance away. "I already told you. No matter how hard you fight you will never def-!"

Luffy hand went sailing through Crocodile's head, interrupting him for a third time.

"Def?! What the hell are you trying to say, Banana?!" Luffy was getting more frustrated at not being able to hit Crocodile.

Crocodile himself was extremely pissed off! This worthless trash was wasting his time! Sand cascaded down his body.

Time to show this worthless trash what it meant to screw with Crocodile!

"Desert Girasole!"

The area Luffy was in suddenly collapsed and began to sink like quicksand.

Luffy was being pulled in, but in an act of desperation, he shot his arm towards Crocodile.

"You don't learn, do you, Straw-"

The hand grasped his shoulder and he yelled out in pain.

'He's able to touch me again?!' He thought. His shoulder felt broken, but he could heal it.

Luffy went flying towards Crocodile, roaring in his warped voice as he prepared to clothesline his opponent.

Crocodile ducked the arm and held his right arm in Luffy's path.

"Barchan!"

Luffy's arm dried up as it passed by, it flew uselessly about him as he flew through the air. He screamed as he landed and held the limp limb.

"My sand sucked up all the water in your arm! I hope that gives you a little taste of the desert!"

Luffy heard the words "suck" and "all the water" in Crocodile's words and he rushed towards his belongings.

Pulling out the gallon of water that Toto had given him, he drank all of it in one gulp and his arm returned to normal.

"Ridiculous." Crocodile commented though he was a bit nervous. Had the brat figured out his weakness?

"No it's not!" Luffy shouted, "Old Sandy Guy spent all night digging up this water! And you know what he said?!"

Luffy rushed towards Crocodile, mouth outstretched.

"He said that Yuba would not be defeated by mere sand! Gum Gum Chomp!"

Crocodile was enveloped by Luffy's mouth, his upper body disappearing in the void.

He quickly noticed that Luffy's chewing was able to hurt him! He burst forth of Luffy's mouth by dragging his hook around inside the glutton's maw.

Luffy spat him out, and Crocodile was screaming in disgust and rage from the rubberman's actions.

"Prepare to die! Along with that cursed city, Yuba!"

"Sables!" Crocodile threw a miniature storm from his hand into the air.

The storm quickly grew into an unstoppable sandstorm. Luffy could feel the wind push and pull him though he stood some meters away.

"What are you doing?! Where is that headed?!" Luffy demanded as he tried to stop sand from entering his eyes and mouth with his hands.

"Where? Why, to the south." Crocodile grinned maliciously, "To the city of Yuba."

Crocodile's face met with Luffy's fist and he was forced back a few feet.

Luffy himself had abandoned all thought and as he slid his momentum, he began to do a "Gum Gum Gatling Gun".

Crocodile wasn't going to take any chances anymore and tried to fly away, but one of the fists hit his feet and he felt pain.

'Is this brat fighting with haki?! How?!"

He didn't have time to think as Luffy's hand was almost at him.

Crocodile formed in another place, but saw Luffy was already headed towards him.

'He's also able to use "observation"?!"

He couldn't do anything as Luffy's fist stretched from his body into his face.

After flying some feet, Crocodile reformed so that he was standing. He was panting as he could feel the pain from his injuries.

Luffy was hunched over, like he was about to charge right for him.

Crocodile cleared his mind and sent his sand in random directions. He couldn't just broadcast his thoughts anymore. The kid would be able to track him.

Luffy shot forward, arms stretching for him.

Reflexively dodging to the side, he held his hook in Luffy's path.

Luffy had already done a "Gum Gum Rocket", and couldn't stop from impaling himself on Crocodile's hook.

He struggled as he hung from it. Unable to think straight he just grasped at the golden hook.

"I must commend you, Straw Hat Luffy! I didn't expect you to be able to use haki."

Luffy himself only answered with grunts and growls as he mindlessly flailed at the hook.

"This is the final sandstorm. Yuba will perish and the flames of rebellion will grow higher!" Crocodile continued his tirade.

Luffy started to hang limply from the hook. His transformation receding.

"You yourself would have lived a bit longer, Straw Hat Luffy! If only you didn't succumb to your weaker emotions."

Crocodile only slightly noticed that Luffy's blood had drenched his arm.

He paused in thought.

"Alas, it is your misfortune to ha-"

Luffy's hand shot out and grabbed Crocodile's arm and began to grasp tightly.

The sound of bone breaking could be heard as Crocodile's arm lowered a bit.

"Gah! You're still alive?!" He threw Luffy into the hole of quicksand he had made.

Luffy hit the sand with a sickening splat. His blood pouring from the hole Crocodile's hook had created.

"You must be in quite some pain, Straw Hat! But don't worry, it'll all end soon!"

The last thing Luffy heard as he raised his arm to his enemy was Crocodile's slow and mocking laughter.

* * *

It had been a hour since Luffy's defeat. 7 hours left until the Rebellion reached Alubarna.

A hole was in the middle of the desert, but it was quickly being filled with sand.

Miss All Sunday stood in front of it. She thought she saw Luffy in the middle of the hole.

But why did she sense him outside of it?

Focusing on his presence, she formed arms around it and pushed.

He burst forth from the sand, a few feet from her. He seemed to still have some of his transformation as he only had teeth on his face, his skin white.

Luffy had dug his way through the sand somehow. Why he wasn't able to dig out was unknown. Maybe it was due to the lack of eyes?

She just looked at him for a while. The weird feeling was stronger than ever.

It felt like she was connected to him in some way. She wanted to pro-

"Thank...you..."

He was still awake?!

"Luffy...why do you fight even until you are near death?" Miss All Sunday said with a worried look.

He reminded her too much of Saul.

"...Huh? Because...if I don't fight...who will protect my friends?" He struggled to get up, but his wounds were severe. His transformation receding.

The feeling began to disappear.

'Just what in the world are you?' She thought as she formed a hand to toss his hat to her. The rest of his belongings were unimportant, as she knew what he treasured.

A hand grasped her ankle and she looked down to see Luffy's hand holding her.

"Meat..." He muttered weakly.

Luffy wouldn't survive for much longer without aid, and she did see meats effect on him.

Miss All Sunday sighed as she formed more hands to hold him up. She placed his hat on his head.

Lifting even more, she put his arms around her shoulders and carried him off, more hands keeping him from slipping.

What had she gotten herself into this time?

* * *

Luckily, the threat of a sandstorm had scared most of Rainbase's population away.

Miss All Sunday was now in an abandoned house with Luffy on her back.

She set him down in a chair in front of a table and made her way into the kitchen.

Even with her sensory abilities, she could not sense inanimate objects.

As she took items from the fridge she remembered that Crocodile had mentioned "haki".

Was that the ability she now had? And Luffy possessed it as well?

Entering the room she had left Luffy in, she tossed the food on the table.

Chunks of the table actually flew through the air as Luffy's mouth engulfed all of it.

He swallowed, not caring about the potential wooden splinters in his meal.

"Thank you!" He seemed better already, though that must have been from the oxygen he now had.

Being buried under sand must have been suffocating.

Miss All Sunday couldn't be here for much longer. Crocodile actually expected her to be in Alubarna by now.

Luffy grabbed her sleeve before she could begin making her way to the door.

"Why did you save me?" He asked with a questioning look on his face.

She stood there in silence for a bit.

"I was just wondering why you fought so hard, is all." She didn't want anyone to know that the name of D. fascinated her.

"But you kidnapped Vivi and helped Banana out."

Now she had to stop from laughing. The first time he had called Crocodile that, she had to hold her stomach as the laughter had caused her pain.

She recomposed herself, and gave him a smile.

"His presence provides me safety. If not for him, I would already be hunted down by the World Government."

"Why? You don't seem like such a bad lady." He had kept the questioning look. Looks like he had lots of questions.

"It's because I'm a "demon", Luffy." That was what she had been labeled as ever since she was 8 years old.

All because the World Government decided to take away her home due to something as petty as fear and greed.

"Demon? I've been called that too!" Luffy seemed to get excited, "Monster as well! What did you do?"

"I existed." She had lost her smile.

Luffy frowned. He had heard something like this before.

"Well, I'm glad that you exist!" He said with a grin, "You're really nice, and you've helped us out a lot!"

Robin's world froze.

Someone was glad that she existed?

"Luffy." She began, "You've never really seen the true me. I'm a true demon. I've had to trick people, lie, ki-"

"Stop!" Luffy interrupted her and stood up. He looked up into her eyes.

"I don't care about any of that! I only care about what I've seen and you're not like that!"

She tried to pull away, but his grip remained strong.

"I don't know why you would work with a guy like Crocodile, but I noticed that you didn't laugh at Sandy Old Guy! I saw that you had fun while you were with me and Sanji!"

"You're a good lady!" He tried to assure her.

"Let go!" Robin pulled her arm away from Luffy and walked hurriedly to the exit.

She stopped before she left.

"I'm sorry, Luffy." She turned and looked at him with sad eyes, "Even if you think I'm a good lady, the World Government doesn't think so. They'll hunt me down because of what I know, of what I could do."

Robin paused.

"But thank you. For saying that you're glad I exist." Her fleeting words stayed with Luffy even as he stood there motionless.

He could only stand helplessly as memories assaulted him.

Of Sabo and how the World had taken him away.

Of how the World experimented on the innocent, and tortured them for useless power.

Of how the World allowed a pirate like Arlong to roam around and do what he pleased.

Luffy was tired of the World. He was its enemy.

Enough of this. He needed to get to Alubarna.

Banana has had his fun. It's time to pay him back for what he did.

* * *

Pell limped towards the desert. He needed to get there! He needed to save Vivi!

Falling to the ground, Pell cursed his condition.

His country needed him and all he could do is crawl pathetically.

He found himself picked up by some strange man wearing a straw hat.

"Hey, you look pretty weird. Do you know the way to Alubarna?" The man asked.

"Alubarna!? Yes! I do! Will you take me there?!" Pell pleaded. He would do anything for his country!

The man grinned. "My name's Luffy! I was actually thinking of you taking me there! You need food or something? You look pretty hurt!"

* * *

It was 1 hour before Plan Utopia came to fruition.

The Baroque Works agents that needed to stop Vivi stood outside and they watched as Alabasta's Super Spot Bill Duck Squad carried Vivi and the Straw Hat pirates.

Quickly chasing after some of them, they set off to stop Princess Vivi.

Little did they know, Vivi wasn't even there.

* * *

Eyelashes and Ussop stared in fear at Mr. 2.

They were so dead.

* * *

"Go get them, Zoro!" Nami cheered from afar.

"Shut up back there!" Zoro yelled back. She expected him to fight these two?!

He stared down Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger.

Zoro unsheathed his swords.

Looks like he would at least have some fun before dying.

* * *

Sanji and Chopper had managed to get an old hag named Miss Merry Christmas and a dope named Mr. 4.

Sanji could only hope Vivi accomplished her goal while Chopper observed his opponents.

* * *

Crocodile could only watch as Miss All Sunday finally arrived.

He already had King Cobra next to him. He just awaited the Rebel leader and the Princess to show so he could take delight in their suffering.

"Where were you? I thought you left before me?" He questioned her as she got off the F-Wani.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to get myself prepared for this event." She now had a different coat on. Her previous one was a bit more revealing, this one was bulkier and hid more of her body.

"Hm. You know I don't like it when a change occurs in my plan." He walked towards her.

"Don't worry. Everything is going according to p-"

He hit with his golden hook and her face turned to the side, though she didn't stumble or fall.

"Don't let it happen again." He said as he glared into her eyes.

She just stood there defiantly and returned his gaze with a small smile.

"Of course, sir."

* * *

"Carue!" Vivi screamed with tears running down her face.

She had failed! She couldn't meet with her friend, Kohza, the Rebel leader!

Carue had protected her from the Rebel forces as they almost trampled her. He had taken the blows instead.

Then, Mr. 2 had tried to trick her, but Mr. Bushido's double-decoy mark had revealed him!

Carue had carried her away, though Mr. 2 was still able to keep up. Carue even ran up a wall, but Mr. 2 was able to do that as well!

He had been shot, and he stumbled before he fell. He tried to weakly wave her away, but he was too injured.

She couldn't leave him! He was her friend! Her family!

"Resistance is futile!" Mr. 2 called out to them as she tried to stay with Carue.

Carue just tried to wave her away. To get her out of there.

She didn't want to go! She couldn't just leave him behind...

"...Okay!" A sob escaped from her lips, "Alright! I'll go!"

She needed to. If she were to leave now, Mr. 2 would kill Carue and her.

Carue knew this. He didn't want her to die as well.

Vivi started running away. Even as Carue laid there dying, she couldn't do anything to help him!

"You shouldn't have interfered, you stupid duck!" Mr. 2 was about to deliver the finishing blow to the wounded Carue.

He was knocked back by two other Super Spot Bill Duck Squad.

"We can still stop them, right, Vivi-chan?" A familiar voice sounded out from up ahead.

"Sanji-san!"

* * *

"You guys aren't the only ones that can use underground tunnels!"

"Ussop!" "Damn! He used one of the underground tunnels!" "Fwah?"

Ussop brought his mighty 5-ton hammer down on Mr. 4's head.

After getting beaten up by Mr. 2, Ussop went to help Chopper with Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas.

They were outside the walls of Alubarna. Currently, the two Straw Hats were dealing with a "human mole", "a heavy hitter", and a "gun/dog".

"I've lost count of how many ships I destroyed." Claimed Ussop as he twirled his special foldable 2-kg hammer in circles.

"They call me... "Lord of Destruction"."

"Who are you?!" Miss Merry Christmas asked in fear. This man was even stronger than Mr. 4!

"They call me...Captain Ussop."

* * *

"Which way did that idiot go?! Didn't I tell her to hide?!" Zoro turned towards two of the Super Spot Bill Duck Squad.

"You guys look for her too!"

"Oh?!" He heard a scream," She's on the other side?! Alright!" He took off, running to the other side of the building.

Nami, who was being chased by Mr. 1 and Ms. Doublefinger ran to the side he was just on.

"Where did that stupid swordsman go?!" Nami cried as she ran. She wasn't a fighter!

"Assassination rule #1: Aim for the weakest first."

* * *

"If the captain is weak, so are his crew members." Miss Merry Christmas told Ussop as she held him from escaping.

"Luffy? What are you talking about?!" Ussop demanded. Nobody called his captain weak!

"Straw Hat has already been killed by Mr. 0!"

Ussop tuned out the world when he heard those words.

Luffy...was dead?

"Don't give me that crap, you stupid ugly mole bitch!" Ussop yelled furiously! Luffy couldn't die!

"I know him! He wouldn't lose to that filthy sand gator!"

"He's going to be the Pirate King!" Ussop believed in Luffy! He believed in his dream!

"Pir-Pirate! Ahahahahaha!" Miss Merry Christmas began to laugh. Mr. 4 could be heard laughing as well.

Ussop stood still. His vision was turning red! How dare they laugh at Luffy's dream!

"Listen to me, Chopper!" Ussop started shouting.

Miss Merry Christmas decided that he was to die now, so she started rushing towards Mr. 4.

"Even-Even if he's fighting impossible enemies-!"

He crashed into a wall, going through it. He still kept his hold on consciousness.

"Even..if...there's no way to defeat the enemies!" His voice was barely coherent due to his enemies.

Chopper just stood by, listening to his words, but he wanted to do something to save Ussop!

"Mr. 4! Get your 4-ton bat ready!" Miss Merry Christmas was going to make this guy shut up, once and for all!

Mr. 4 raised his bat. Ussop was getting closer and closer...

"Ussop!" Chopper screamed. He was still recovering from his rumble ball. He wouldn't make it!

Mr. 4 swung the bat and it collided with Ussop's skull. It broke his nose and his skull, sending blood and bone flying out the wound that had been created by the bat.

He was sent flying into a dust cloud, where his lifeless body was to lay.

"You bastards!" Chopper held back his tears. He had to stay strong and defeat these horrible monsters!

His eyes widened as he saw a silhouette appear behind the smoke cloud.

"...There...comes...a time...where a man must stand and fight!" Ussop barely held onto his life.

He wouldn't let these people win!

"That time...is when his friends' dream is laughed at!"

The agents seemed stunned. He had just been hit by a 4-ton bat! How was he still alive?!

"I know...Luffy will be the Pirate King..." Ussop remembered how much Luffy had fought for him and he had seen Luffy's kindness and his own sacrifices.

"...AND I WON'T LET YOU LAUGH AT THAT!" Ussop roared! Life suddenly coursed through his body as he promised to make these people hurt for laughing at his friend!

* * *

"Basse Côte!" Sanji's leg collided with Mr. 2's head and sent him spiraling to the ground. He had finally gotten a hold of himself!

This shitty okama would transform himself into Nami-swan and send him to the ground!

In terrible pain! His rash had still not healed up yet!

He had managed to drink some of Chopper's medicine, and that reduced the pain so that he could fight!

Sanji had coughed out blood just from seeing Nami's beautiful face.

Even if it was on the okama.

"Longe!" He moved behind the dizzy okama. Pulling his leg outwards, he hit the okama's back with his heel.

"Tendron!" He moved towards Mr. 2 and stabbed at him with his leg, hitting Mr. 2's shoulder.

Sanji realized that Mr. 2 had stabbed his shoulder with one of his swan bullet kicks, but he wouldn't let up!

"Flanchet!" "Quasi!" "Queue!"

Sanji and Mr. 2 got on their hands and tried to spin and kick their opponent multiple times, each time colliding with each other.

"Cuisseau!" They both kicked their shins together.

"Jarret!" This time, their feet smashed into the other, sending them sprawling to the ground.

They both began to yell at their opponent. They wouldn't lose!

"Veau Shot!" They got into one final clash, flying past the other as their kick was too fast to see.

They stood at opposite ends of the alleyway.

Mr. 2 suddenly flew to Sanji's side, having received the full force of Sanji's kick.

He looked down at Mr. 2.

"That was a good fight...the rest doesn't need to be said." Sanji was tired.

Mr. 2 really was strong.

* * *

Zoro had just saved Nami from being cut by Mr. 1.

Zoro was excited! Mr. 1 seemed to be just as powerful as he was!

Maybe even stronger than he was.

He unsheathed the rest of his swords, now having Wadō and Yubashiri joining Kitetsu.

"After declining the invitation given to you by Mr. 7, you killed him. Or, should I say, the Pirate Hunter killed him." Mr. 1 remarked as his arms turned into blades.

"That's because you didn't agree to my conditions." Zoro really was alike to Luffy in some ways.

"My condition was, "I'll join if you make me your boss"!"

Mr. 1 came at him suddenly and he was forced to block.

Zoro didn't know what would happen to Nami, but she better be able to fend for herself!

* * *

"That freaking bastard!" Nami cried out silently.

She had found that the Clima-Tact had some useful properties, but it was just a party trick!

That, and Ussop didn't label the actual attacks in the first place! She had been reading the party tricks side this entire time!

* * *

"Ushi Bari!"

Zoro rushed past Mr. 1, attempting to cut him.

Not even a mark appeared on Mr. 1. His Supa Supa Fruit's steel body was too hard to cut!

"So...as long as I can't cut metal, I can't beat you."

"Hm? So what are you going to do now?" Mr. 1 asked Zoro as he watched him discard his robe.

"Heh, I pity you. Danger can force a swordsman to become stronger!" Zoro was preparing his next move.

"After I defeat you, I'll become a swordsman who can cut through steel!"

* * *

"Sea Urchin Spikes!"

Nami cried out as Miss Doublefinger's spikes went through her foot.

Things were bad for Nami, but at least she was able to use this stupid party toy to some use!

She had formed a thundercloud and made lightning strike her opponent!

That still wasn't enough, as Miss Doublefinger just got serious.

Her Toge Toge Fruit allowed her to make any part of her body into a spike, which she currently was doing to stab Nami's foot.

Nami tried holding her back, but the pain was getting to her.

Willing the pain away, she told Miss Doublefinger the last words she would hear from her.

"This...pain..is..nothing! It's nothing compared to what that person is going through!" She thought of Vivi as she said her words.

"Compared to that...one,two, or even three legs aren't enough! Watch me!"

Nami held the Clima-Tact up to Miss Doublefinger's face.

"Super Class Tornado!" She repeated the instructions Ussop had given her.

Two plastic pigeons sprouted from opposite sides of the staff.

Nami had a look of shock on her face. This was it? This was how she was going to die? Because Ussop sucked ba-

The staff began to turn, trapping Miss Doublefinger and eventually launching her through the wall ahead of Nami.

Nami was stunned as she fell to her knees. Miss Doublefinger didn't appear to be moving as she could see through the hole in the wall.

She realized she had won.

Nami rose her fist in the air from her kneeling position in a minor victory celebration.

* * *

Zoro stood bleeding in the middle of the a tower that had collapsed around him.

Mr. 1 was really strong. He had taken all of Zoro's attacks, and they still had not affected him.

He even threw a building at the metal man, but he just cut through it like nothing!

There really were monsters in this world.

"Impossible...standing even after taking all those attacks and dodging all the falling rocks?"

Mr. 1 must have been referring to all cuts he had inflicted upon his body.

It wasn't that he dodged the attacks, Zoro just knew where they were going to land.

Zoro could hear breathing. From everything. The trees, the rocks, the dirt.

And especially from Wadō. The sword had the loudest breathing in the area.

He went and picked it up. Its breath flowed through him. Becoming a part of him.

He looked at Mr. 1. He could also hear the breathing of his body.

Zoro wanted to cut it. He could feel Wadō's calm aura make him relax and focus.

He sheathed the sword. Mr. 1 just got closer to him.

In one fluid movement, Wadō left the sheathe and flew through the air.

It took less than a second. Zoro was already sheathing the blade back.

Mr. 1 had a look of surprise on his face as blood spewed from his wound.

"Ittoryu Iai:.."

Mr. 1 tried to turn around, but was unable as he fell to the ground.

Wadō's blade could be heard ringing as it was sheathed.

"...Shishi Sonson!"

Zoro waited until he heard Mr. 1's body hit the floor.

"I give my thanks to you! I am now stronger than I was before."

* * *

Vivi could only watch as everything fell apart.

The Royal Guard and the Rebel army just continued to fight, even as the white flag was raised on both sides.

Baroque Works had infiltrators on both sides. They had fired on each other even when the white flag was up, and it just ignited the fighting again.

She watched as Kohza laid on the ground, unmoving. He had gone out into the field to help with the surrender, but he was shot.

Crocodile laughed behind her. She could hear him walking closer to where she had knelt.

Her father was pinned to the walk with metal spikes. Miss All Sunday stood near him as she watched the mayhem.

She could hear her dad shout at her. Telling her to run away.

She was tired of running away. She had done that so much in the past.

Vivi turned to face the approaching Crocodile.

"If I can stop the bomb in the next 15 minutes, I can reduce the number of casual-"

"You can stop the uprising this way, you can stop the uprising that way..."

He was next to her, lifting her off the ground by her neck.

"Wake up, Princess!" He was smirking, "Your dream isn't realistic and this is reality! Only the strong could have such dreams."

"I don't care!" Vivi was beginning to cry, "Even if it's not realistic! I won't give up! For I am this country's princess!"

Crocodile had a full-blown smile on his face now. He was happy he had let her live for so long.

Her suffering was indeed, delicious!

Still holding onto Vivi, he walked over to the ledge of the palace that they were on.

"You wanted to save everyone...didn't you?" He asked her, seeing the pain and helplessness shine in her eyes.

He was really glad he had let her live.

"It doesn't matter what you do!" Crocodile told her. Cobra could be heard in the background, shouting at him.

"You can't save this country." There it was! The absolute defeat in her eyes!

It was glorious!

Crocodile let her go, watching as she dropped into the sandstorm he had created to add to the confusion of the fighters below.

He closed his eyes and started laughing! Today, was a great day! Everything was going so well! Nothing could st-

"CROCODILE!"

He tried to open his eyes to see the voice he thought he would never hear, but he was hit in the head and sent to the ground.

Looking up, he saw the one man he thought he would never see again. The stupid rubberman wore some sort of tank on his back.

"Straw Hat Luffy!"

Crocodile glared in Miss All Sunday's direction. She had a faint smile on her lips as always.

This was her doing! He knew she was working with this rookie!

She would pay!

But for now, she was useful. He needed to deal with this guy here and now.

"Stand up, Banana!"

Crocodile was furious! This again?!

"You! How did you live?! The last time I saw you, you were already half-dead!"

"I ate some meat," Luffy looked at him with complete seriousness, "and I got better."

Enough of this.

"Desert Spada!"

Luffy jumped to the side and focused, making his skin turn white and losing his face except for his teeth.

Putting his hand in front of him, he cocked the other one back.

"Desert-!"

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Without having to stretch back first, his hand shot forward and caught Crocodile in the gut.

He grunted in pain, but grabbed the arm.

The hand held some sort of hose and it sprayed him in the face.

Stumbling backwards, he missed Luffy's shooting towards his arm, leaving the other one behind.

"Gum Gum..."

Crocodile looked up just to see Luffy already at him.

"...Bullet!"

Agony shot through his face as Luffy's fist buried itself there and sent him flying into the wall.

* * *

Cobra stared at the scene in shock! This one boy was beating Crocodile? Who had beaten the kingdom's strongest warriors?

Miss All Sunday stood by and watched as well. She never expected Luffy to actually arrive in time. In fact, if one looked closer at his transport, it was that falcon that she had broken.

Looks like she didn't put too much strength into that "Clutch" like she thought.

They both watched as Crocodile used a "Sables" to try and rob Luffy of his water barrel.

"Who is that...?" Cobra muttered to himself.

"That is Monkey D. Luffy. He helped your daughter get here."

Cobra was even more surprised. He didn't expect this woman agent to answer him. This guy was the one that brought Vivi here?

Luffy finished his transformation into Water Luffy. A large gaping hole where he was impaled leaked water instead of blood.

"Crap! I'm leaking!"

Miss All Sunday laughed. Luffy never failed to entertain! Even as he was in a fight to the death!

"Come on, it's time to go." She took the metal spikes out of his arm, and used her ability to hold him up. Luffy had just sent Crocodile into a wall using "Gum Gum Bazooka".

"You should hurry up and take me to where your "True History" is written down."

"...What do you want to see? What are you planning?" Cobra asked her wearily. He knew what was written on that rock.

"It's none of your business." She said in her light tone, never losing it.

Miss All Sunday turned, but saw that Luffy was looking at her.

She tried to give him a wider smile, but was unable to do so. She just left the area with Cobra.

His good luck was about to run out.

* * *

Vivi and the other Straw Hats had decided to look for the bomb.

Pell gave her Luffy;s straw hat. He didn't want it to get damaged in the fight he would have with Crocodile.

There was only 5 minutes left! Where could the bomb be?!

"Worthless trash, worthless trash, worthless..." Ussop repeated with a mini golden hook in his left cast.

He and Chopper had teamed up to defeat Miss Merry Christmas and Mr. 4. A combination of Chopper's "Horn Point" and Ussop's "Rubberband + Hammer" had finished them off

"Stop fooling around!" Zoro bopped him on the head with his fist. Zoro was still recovering from his injuries, but he was happy. He managed to cut steel!

Vivi was calling them over! Maybe she had found something?

* * *

Miss All Sunday stared at Crocodile as she told him what the Poneglyph had contained.

"It's nothing but old history of Alabasta."

"I see..." Crocodile seemed to be even angrier than he was when he had fought Luffy.

"How pitiful. It looks like our agreement has come to and end." Crocodile tried to grab her by sending his hand flying, but she jumped to the side.

"I must say, though. You truly were, "the best"!" He had a mad glint in his eye as his face looked murderous.

He charged at her and swung his hook, only managing to take her hat off her head.

"You were a worthy woman, but I'm not mad!" He smiled at her, "I've actually had something I wanted to show you!"

Miss All Sunday just chuckled, surprising Crocodile.

"I always knew that it would end up like this. I've made some preparations though."

A vial of water was flung at Crocodile, who dodged it.

"Was that it? You disa-"

A hand sprouted from his shoulder and slammed the vial into him.

"Gah! Water?!" He suddenly realized what she was doing. He took a few steps back, expecting Miss All Sunday to be charging at him.

She was standing in her current position, unmoving.

He just watched her with a confused look on his face. He felt pain where the water had hit him and he looked to see that a knife was in him.

Looking around, he noticed more knives planted throughout the room.

"I'm not going to make this easy on you, Crocodile!" She shouted as she took another vial from her coat.

Crocodile liked it when they fought back. This meant he got to hurt them!

He rushed towards her. She still needed to see something he had! He wouldn't let her die before that though.

* * *

Luffy woke up. He was currently outside the tomb that Crocodile and Miss All Sunday fought in.

"Ah! I can't be sleeping now!" Not noticing the pool of blood beneath him, he got up and ran towards the entrance.

Crocodile still didn't get what he deserved! He was going to make sure he did though!

He could hear his stupid laugh! Time for vengeance!

* * *

Miss All Sunday was backed up against the wall. She had tried her best to fight him.

But he was just too strong. Even with water and weapons, she barely scratched him.

"This is too great! This is exactly what I wanted!" His hand was coming down to grab her by the throat.

In desperation, she quickly formed arms on his chest. Normally, she would have thought that it wouldn't work, but she was running on instinct as he approached her.

Black arms shot out from within Crocodile, erupting from his chest. Pain coursed through his body.

'Haki?!' A brief thought flashed through his mind. This was now dangerous for him.

The arms started to push his head back. He wanted to turn into sand, but it wouldn't matter. The arms were touching his back all the way to his head.

She was trying to break his back before he could break the woman in front of him!

His hook shot out. Miss All Sunday was too preoccupied on snapping Crocodile in two.

It impaled her, almost hitting vital organs.

The arms disappeared, and he slowly made his way towards her.

"I see you still have some fight in you!" He noticed that she was still struggling to stand.

He yanked the hook out. She gasped as she fell to the ground.

Putting a foot down on her, he reached into his jacket and pulled out some papers.

"Here, your pink slip, so to speak!" He dropped the papers down on her. They were bounded together, so they wouldn't fly all over the place.

"...I didn't know you did your own paperwork..." She muttered. The wound may not have hit anything vital, but she was still slowly bleeding to death on the floor.

"Kuhahahaha! Still so fiesty?! Read them." Crocodile demanded, and expectant look on his face.

"I held onto these for you. Ever since I broke you out of that facility."

Panic flashed through her eyes as she tried to cross her arms. Crocodile just pressed harder into her wound so she would stop.

"I said read them."

Reluctantly, she picked up the papers.

It was papers about a project.

"How long do you think you spent at that facility?" He asked her. Crocodile was getting impatient. He was waiting for this moment ever since he suspected her of betrayal when she didn't come back when she was supposed to.

"I only spent a few months there, as I recall." Miss All Sunday said with a grimace. The memories were still pain-

"You spent more than a few months there, Nico Robin!"

Surprise now adorned her face. "What are you talking about?! How wou-?"

"I said read!" He pressed down, making her cough up some blood.

The project on the paper had the name, "Project Genesis".

The name scared her.

She slowly opened up the packet of papers.

A name list greeted her. It wasn't a long list, but she could tell they were all Devil Fruit eaters.

Her name and Luffy's was on it along with many others.

'He spent time at a facility?' She wondered. That was something she didn't know.

Miss All Sunday turned the next page and froze.

It had to be a lie.

She hurriedly looked up to Crocodile. This had to be a lie!

He wore a victorious grin on his face.

He wanted to see her suffer before he killed her. She knew his ways after working so long with him.

Looking back down, she could only recognize a few words.

"Project Success." "...Nico Robin was a perfect candidate..." "...female child..."

How long had she spent at that facility?!

Looking through her memories, she couldn't recall any of this! How did they do this?!

How did they make her give birth to a child?!

"Yes! That's the face! But there's still much more to look at, Nico Robin!"

"What do you mean?! How could there be more?!"

"Easily! Just look at the results!"

Turning back to the paper, there was one she hadn't read yet.

It had red lettering all over it. It was different than the other papers.

She slowly took it out and read it.

Her hands trembled. She started to shake.

It was a progress report. One about her child.

The little girl was too uncontrollable. She had great powers, and they had succeeded in the project.

They made a being that had two Devil Fruit powers, but they couldn't control the experiment.

They had terminated her daughter.

Miss All Sunday just looked up with defeated eyes.

She always thought she would never be allowed a child, but if she was, she wanted to be there for them!

Remembering the treatment of the Facilities, terrible things must have happened to the little girl.

She wanted to not let her child suffer! To not have the same childhood she had!

Her little girl was murdered. Before she could ever live, she was denied her life.

The world grew darker as Miss All Sunday hung her head. Crocodile's laughter resounded throughout the room.

It seemed he had gotten what he wanted from her.

* * *

"This is great! Too great!" It had been some time since he had felt this good.

Crocodile had just broken two women that had strong wills. It was something he enjoyed doing.

"You're a monster!" Cobra said as he laid on the floor nearby. He had already told Crocodile of the self-destruction of the tomb he had started. Crocodile would survive.

"And you're a dead man! I'll take your kingdom, your ancient weapon, and your life! This day couldn't get any better!" Crocodile continued laughing.

The room started shaking.

"BANANA!"

"What the he-?!"

A foot crashed into his face, sending him flying across the room and slumping against a wall.

He looked up to see Luffy sliding towards him.

"Straw Ha-?!"

Luffy's arm had stayed in position when he had kicked Crocodile, but it shot forward, smashing into Crocodile's face and making a dent in the wall behind him.

"You're going to pay for hurting Vivi!" Luffy screamed in his face. He had already transformed, and his demonic teeth were pointed straight at Crocodile.

"You rubber bastard! I'm not going to let you ruin this great moment!" Crocodile threw the golden hook covering off, revealing the poisonous hook beneath.

Luffy briefly noticed that Cobra and Miss All Sunday were watching the fight.

Cobra was bleeding, but it seemed like he would be alright.

Miss All Sunday looked terrible. Her wounds didn't look like they would kill her, but her face...

She looked like her spirit had been broken completely. She looked like she was already dead.

Crocodile didn't let him think as his hook flew towards Luffy, intending on ending this fight quickly.

Luffy ducked below it as it sailed above his head and ran towards Crocodile, hands staying where he was before.

Crocodile tried to make his hook return, but was hit by Luffy's bazooka. He knelt to the ground, putting his hand on it.

"Mass Eros-"

Luffy hit him in the face, sending Crocodile to the side as his arm stretching along with him.

The technique had only partially succeeded, Luffy lost his balance as some of the ground shifted.

Crocodile skid along the ground, his hook already positioned to impale Luffy as it returned to him.

Luffy's hand had sunk into the earth near Crocodile, and he rocketed towards him.

Crocodile split apart, letting Luffy pass by.

He noticed that Luffy had been struck by the poison hook. He began to laugh.

"It's all over for you, Straw Hat Luffy! Soon, that poison will rob you of your life!"

Luffy paused to look at Crocodile.

"You don't understand anything." He said in his warped voice.

"I understand nothing?!"

It would be pointless trying to explain anything to this man.

"Gum Gum Gatling!" His arms blurred as he attempted to hit Crocodile.

Crocodile cleared his mind and spread his sand. He watched as the fists missed him, even as he just stood still.

It hurt spreading the sand, but he used it to try to avoid getting hit even harder on his main body.

Luffy rushed forwards, jumping and stretching his leg at Crocodile.

"Gum Gum Stamp!"

Crocodile easily sidestepped Luffy's attack. He was beginning to lose his speed. The poison was taking effect.

"Why do you still fight?" He asked as he saw Luffy's body unable to withstand the return of his leg. Luffy fell down on his back.

But he looked back up at Crocodile with rage filled eyes.

"Like I said...you don't understand." Even if he had rage, his voice struggled to come out. He was starting to lose consciousness too.

"Vivi..." Cobra started listening intently, "Even though she wants no death...she tries to throw her life away to save others."

Memories of self sacrifice flashed through his mind.

Shanks. Zeff. Prisoners who wanted to protect what they still could.

Nami.

"If I were to just do nothing...she would die! You guys would kill her!" Luffy rose to his feet. His skin was white, teeth were sharp, and his eyes turned into slits.

"If it's just you versus me...I can kill you!" Luffy's slits opened up, darkness pooled forth as his wrath reached new levels.

Crocodile felt a pressure he hadn't felt in a long time. He couldn't move! And his sand wasn't responding.

"Look at yourself!" He shouted, trying to regain some willpower, "You can barely stand! What makes you think you can win this?!"

"Because I will become the Pirate King!" Luffy yelled out as he ran towards Crocodile.

"If you really understood how harsh the seas were, you wouldn't say things like that!" Crocodile readied his hook to impale Luffy.

"I said it before! Weaklings like you are all over the sea! Once you realize the level of pirates in this world, you will stop having such foolish dreams!"

He swung his hook at Luffy, but Luffy backhanded the hook's base, breaking it.

Luffy grabbed Crocodile's face and pulled him closer.

Crocodile was forced to stare into the pits Luffy had for eyes.

"Then I'll just surpass you!"

Luffy pulled Crocodile back, and sent him into the air.

Crocodile wouldn't let this pest stop him! He formed a sandstorm in his hand.

"Sables: Pesado!"

The room shook from the force that he generated along with the further collapse of the room. Debris flew through the air and more pillars around the room fell.

Luffy jumped to Cobra and Miss All Sunday and grabbed them. He then set them in an area where they wouldn't get hurt by any flying objects.

He turned to look at Crocodile, who was still in the air, and started coiling his body up.

After coiling himself up, he sucked in air, making him bloat out. The air went through the coils he had made in his body, and he looked like a fat spring.

He blew the air out, his body twisting as he did so and it launched him into the air, towards Crocodile.

"Desert La Spada!" Crocodile sent solid blades of sand at Luffy, hoping to finally end the rubberman.

Luffy was still twisting through the air, but his fists started to multiply, as he was moving his arms so quickly it seemed he had more than two.

"...STORM!"

The blades of sand were no match for Luffy's fists, he went straight through them and to Crocodile.

Luffy's hands smashed into the ceiling repeatedly. Crocodile being forced against it from Luffy's onslaught.

Luffy continued his warped screaming as he did so. The ceiling was beginning to rise from the impacts.

The ceiling was being demolished, the remains forced further upwards and upwards.

Luffy broke through bedrock, dirt, clay, and stone, and finally, Luffy through all the layers between the tomb and the surface level.

Crocodile himself was flying high above the city of Alubarna now. Luffy's attack had been too strong and now he was unconscious. His plans destroyed, and himself beaten.

Luffy fell to the ground, laughing with a grin on his face.

He was so happy he had finally ended Crocodile's schemes!

* * *

Luffy hit the ground as Miss All Sunday was trying to stop herself from passing out.

The trauma she had taken was great, but she had to stay awake for at least a few more minutes.

The poison still coursed through Luffy's veins and she had the antidote.

"Hey! Are you alright?!"

Cobra got up to check on Luffy. It seemed that the King felt gratitude towards the one that saved him and his city.

"I will have to thank you." Cobra said while looking at the hole. Rain poured through it.

"Shishishishi! Don't worry about it. I did it cause I wanted to." Cobra started laughing.

Making a hand to poke Cobra's shoulder. She threw the vial at him and he caught it.

"What is th-?"

"It's the antidote for the poison Luffy has. Please, give it to him."

He quickly untapped the vial and poured it into Luffy's mouth. The antidote should take some time.

Luffy would survive. That was all that mattered now.

"Why would you do that?" Cobra asked her.

"I don't really know why myself." She said with a blank face, "He's really had an effect on me when I trailed him all the way from East Blue."

She closed her eyes. Miss All Sunday wouldn't want to remember anything bad now.

She focused on all the good things she had seen. How the Straw Hats had affected her.

How Luffy had changed her into who she was now.

"_Well, I'm glad you exist!" _

She truly was happy she had met the rubberman.

Movement jarred her from her thoughts.

She was being put over Luffy's shoulder.

"What?! No! Leave me here! Leave me here to die!" Miss All Sunday screamed.

Living was not an option at this point! Why did she deserve to live?!

When her daughter had died!

"No." Luffy said in a strained voice. The poison had not left his veins yet.

"I'm not going to listen to that." He took steps towards the hole he had made to the streets.

"I want you to live."

She could only think of was how selfish he was.

* * *

Luffy deposited them on the streets and shortly passed out. The fight had been tiring for him.

She got up to leave. The World Government would capture her if she stayed too long.

Luffy would be safe. He had a King on his side.

"Where are you going?" She heard the King ask her.

"Away. I'm not going to bother you anymore. There's no reason for me to be here. Goodbye, Nefertari Cobra."

She left. She went to the edge of town and laid next to a building.

This was it. No more strength remained in her. She was going to either die here or be captured.

There was no where left to go. The Straw Hats wouldn't expect her to be friendly. Not after they had seen her working with Crocodile.

Luffy would, but he would probably be out for a few days.

Sighing, she resigned herself to her fate.

Till she felt something lick her face.

Opening her eyes, she saw the last thing she had expected.

Banchi stood next to her with his head down. He wanted her to get on.

In a daze, she obliged.

She could now get out of here. But where would she go?

Memories of a goat-themed caravel filled her mind. Memories of a happy crew that had been through so much.

Miss All Sunday set off on Banchi.

Luffy would have to pay for keeping her alive. Her life was now his responsibility.

* * *

**Hope the "Robin having a kid" thing doesn't bother you all. I just see how motherly she seems to be and that inspired this. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!  
**


	12. New Beginnings: Shedding the Old Life

**Hello again, everyone! Here's a regular sized chapter for you all!**

**The reason why the Alabasta chapter was so long was because I couldn't decide when to separate the thing, so long chapter. **

**Hope you all enjoy this one!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

It was late at night when she had arrived.

Banchi had left once she disembarked. He disappeared into the sea.

Wishing him the best, she boarded the Going Merry.

Looking around the ship, she found medical supplies. She patched herself up and cleaned the sand and dirt off of her body.

Sneaking into the women's bedroom, making sure to lock the cover, she picked out some clothes that seem like they would fit her.

She shed the clothes she wore as Miss All Sunday, a past that she wished would fade away.

Nico Robin thought the clothes were a bit tight, but they would have to do. She slipped into the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

The ship was moving when she woke up. She groaned lightly as she realized that something was different about the room.

She had fallen out of the bed. She stumbled a bit as she stood up. Her injuries were not yet healed, but they had not opened up.

Mr. 2 could be heard as well as the Straw Hats. Luffy's voice was joined by Ussop's and Chopper's. It seems they were having an argument.

She formed an eye outside and saw the Straw Hats on the soil. Mr. 2 was on the railing of the Going Merry.

Robin listened to Mr. 2 and the Straw Hat's conversation. She even listened when he sacrificed his own ship and crew to save them.

Vivi's speech was also heartwarming.

Now she wished that the Straw Hats would accept her as a friend as well.

* * *

"We're lonely!" Every Straw Hat cried out except Zoro.

"Stop crying! If I knew it was going to be like this, I would have dragged her on board!"

"You barbarian!" "Despicable!" "Devil!" "Santoryu!" "Na-"

"Wait! Luffy! Santoryu isn't an insult!"

"Yontoryu."

"Do you even know how to insult people, or is it just a natural thing you do?!"

"At last..." A feminine voice spoke from the Storage Room, "...we're out at sea. Good work."

* * *

Everyone panicked except for Luffy.

The two more sensible crew members, Zoro and Nami, tried to bear arms against the woman.

Sanji started to worship the woman. His rash seemed to have cleared up as he was no longer in pain at seeing a beautiful woman.

Chopper hid the wrong way behind the mast, he had never met her before.

Ussop started screaming into his megaphone for the marines to help them from the woman that used to work for Crocodile.

"Oh? I wasn't expecting you!" Luffy said. He was surprised! He hadn't expected her to be here.

"Don't point those things at me." Robin said as she disarmed Zoro and Nami.

They were shocked as well! She had disarmed them so quickly and effortlessly.

"When did you get here?!" Nami asked. This woman seemed to be everywhere!

"I've been here the whole time. I was in the cabin reading a book. I took a bath and borrowed some clothes." She looked at Nami, "Are they yours? Please lend them to me."

It looks like Nami didn't have a choice, unless she wished to rip the clothes off this, "Miss All Sunday".

That might be to her advantage. Sanji might attack her then.

Robin pulled out one of the lawn chairs they kept to the side.

"Luffy?"

Everyone turned to face Robin. They wanted to know what she wanted from their captain.

"You didn't forget what you said, did you?"

"Hey! Luffy! What did you say to this beautiful woman?!" Sanji demanded as he pulled Luffy down to his height.

"Huh? What do you mean? I said a lot of things." Luffy was confused. He usually said things that came from his heart. It didn't mean he remembered saying them.

"_Well, I'm glad that you're alive!" _

"_I want you to live." _

Robin smiled as she lounged in the lawn chair.

"Well, I remember them clearly."

"You better take responsibility, Luffy."

If the crew's reaction was minor surprise, it was now immense shock!

* * *

"Luffy! I'm sorry!" Chopper cried out, "I knew I should have taught you about procreational prevention!"

"What? What's that?" Luffy could barely squeak out. Sanji was holding him tightly at his throat.

"She...you...what's the story?!" Sanji was enraged! This shitty rubberman did something to this beautiful angel?!

"I'm calling the marines!" Ussop said into his megaphone. This woman was dangerous!

"You're really weird." Luffy said as he shoved Sanji away, "What do you want?"

Robin's eyes shined.

"Let me join your crew."

More pandemonium ensued as Nami, Ussop, and Sanji continued to panic.

"It's you who made me live when I wanted to die. That's all your fault." Robin told Luffy as they stared at each other.

Luffy's face was blank, but she could tell he was thinking. Well, processing some thought, but nothing really deep.

"I have no where else to go..." She got into a position so they wouldn't see her trembling.

This was something she had longed for since she had seen the kindness Luffy was capable of.

"...so let me stay on this ship."

"Oh, if it's like that, there is nothing I can do." Luffy said without hesitation.

"You can stay."

Sanji was elated! Finally, one action he could actually agree on with his captain!

Zoro sighed. There was nothing he could do. It was Luffy's choice.

He looked at Robin a bit more closely, noticing the slight tremble.

But if she were to go against Luffy, he would make her pay.

Nami and Ussop panicked. Were they recruiting former enemies now?!

"Shishishi! It's okay! She's nicer than you all think." Luffy grinned at his crew.

This lady had helped them out a lot in the past. It was only right to give her refuge.

* * *

Robin had introduced herself to the crew.

Winning Nami had been the easiest part. She loved jewels and valuable things.

Zoro was surprisingly okay with her being there. It seemed that her past actions had earned some gratitude from the swordsman.

Sanji didn't need any convincing. He was already won over.

Ussop questioned her. Robin didn't mind, but she laughed when he learned of her greatest talent.

Assassination.

He freaked out and wanted Luffy to throw her off the ship.

Luffy had actually helped her win Ussop over by pretending to be Chopper with her Hana Hana hands on his head.

Chopper had never met her before, but she knew he liked her. He liked everyone that didn't seem bad.

It had been some time after Ussop had asked her questions, but she had questions of her own.

"Luffy? Doctor-kun? Could you come over here please?"

Everyone turned to look at Robin as Luffy and Chopper headed to where she sat.

No one except Luffy completely trusted her, so they needed to scrutinize her every move.

"What do you know about Devil Fruits?"

"They taste bad." Luffy said as he sat down on the deck. He let Chopper have Ussop's former chair.

"They look weird." Chopper replied. He still held memories of when he had eaten his Devil Fruit. It looked weird, so he thought it would be good to eat.

Luffy was right, they tasted bad.

A moment of silence passed by.

"Is that it?" Robin had widened her eyes as she realized the extent of their knowledge.

"You don't know anything more?"

"Well," Chopper began, "I know that Zoans have different forms they can transform into."

He reached into his bag and pulled a yellow ball out.

"This Rumble Ball allows me t-"

"Oh! Chopper! You have candy?! Let me have some!" Luffy's mouth almost engulfed Chopper's hoof as he attempted to eat the Rumble Ball.

Chopper moved the Rumble Ball out of the way as quickly as he could.

"Don't eat that, Luffy! I don't know what it will do to you! It lets me change my forms, but I haven't tested it out on other Devil Fruit types!"

"Aw, I can't eat it? Too bad." Luffy was disappointed.

"Do you think it would be a good idea to test it on us?" Robin asked Chopper who seemed to fidget at her words.

"Um...there was actually an accident. If I eat more than two within six hours..." Chopper seemed to hesitate.

He wasn't sure if he could tell them. That he really was a monster.

Then he remembered Luffy's transformations. How he managed to smile and laugh and play with them all.

"...I become a monster."

"Cool! Can you show us?!" Luffy was ecstatic. Chopper had more cool forms to show them?!

"Wha-? No! It's bad! I get really out of control when I do it!"

"Chopper, Luffy's always out of control. Don't do it if it's too dangerous though." Ussop added in.

"Aw, alright. You don't have to change into a monster now, Chopper." Luffy gave up. No point in forcing his friend to do something he felt strongly against.

"Doctor-kun? May I ask what the Rumble Ball does?" Robin asked politely. It seemed interesting.

"It distorts the wavelength of the transformations, causing my body to transform different parts of my body into a reindeer or a human."

"Does it affect other Devil Fruits?"

"Um...I don't think so. It will affect different Zoans though."

"I see."

"Hey! I can transform too!" Luffy said as he sat down, concentrating.

His body turned white and his face disappeared, leaving only his sharp teeth.

Ussop jumped back a bit and landed on his ass. This still freaked him out!

Nami gasped in shock. It was quite different looking directly at him instead of him just attacking the enemies.

Robin saw this and knew what he was doing. He was evoking emotions that made the devil within him stir.

Sanji was still in the kitchen, making some nice cakes and preparing their dinner.

Zoro wasn't surprised. This, he was used to.

Chopper just stared at him, but smiled a little. He had forgotten that his captain knew what it was like to be called a monster.

"Impressive, Luffy." Robin commented, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Nope!" Luffy stood up. His body returning to normal.

"I know it happens when I get really angry though."

"That's your "devil" Luffy." Robin told him.

"I see..." Luffy put a hand to his chin, "...so it's a mystery thing?"

"In a way, yes. Our Devil Fruits actually contain a devil inside them. We gain their powers when we eat the fruit." She explained more for the crew than for Luffy. He wouldn't care or understand it anyway.

"When a devil manifests itself, it grants more control of the ability, though, it often comes with a price."

"What's the price?" Chopper asked meekly. Manifestation? Is that what happened to him if he were to eat more than two Rumble Balls.

"Oh, just your humanity."

"That's it?" The whole crew aside from Luffy and Chopper asked Robin.

"Luffy doesn't even have any humanity." "Luffy's human?! I thought he was a monster."

"Hm, I think some of the people we've seen so far are less human than Luffy is." Zoro said as he remembered many of the people he had encountered.

The crew all agreed with that. Some of their enemies were far less human than Luffy was.

"Sanji! Meat! Meat! Meat! I'm hungry...!" Luffy whined as he drooled over the deck.

"Just wait a while longer, Luffy! It will be ready in a hour!" Sanji called from the kitchen. He was unable to hear any of the conversation.

* * *

It has been a day since Robin had joined the crew. The Going Merry was drifting on the sea as the Straw Hats took a break from the excitement they had just been through.

"What a weird day it's been..." Sanji took a puff of the cigarette he had.

"A galleon fell from the sky..." Zoro made sure that the octopus that clung to his head was gone.

He, Luffy, and Sanji had gone ship salvaging. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

"The lock post keeps pointing up..." Nami was worried. Robin said it must have been a sky island, but how does one get to a sky island? It wouldn't point anywhere else, so they were stuck.

"The strange monkey appeared to recover the sunken ship..." Ussop mumbled as he tried to catch his breath.

"A giant sea turtle ate the ship..." Chopper was in shock. The sea was a mysterious place.

A giant sea turtle had eaten the ship that Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had been in. Robin joked that they could have been swallowed whole, but it just scared everyone that didn't go ship salvaging.

"The sky turned black..." Robin was sweating a little. She wasn't even really an official Straw Hat yet, but they already had a little adventure.

She had deduced that the ship that fell from the sky had been 200 years old by putting the skeleton of a pirate back together.

"...Finally, giant monsters much bigger than regular giants showed up!" Luffy shouted. That had been so scary! He thought they were going to die!

"Yup! That really scared me!" Masira said.

The Straw Hats looked at him.

Masira was the strange monkey Ussop mentioned.

"Get the hell off of our ship!" Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji kicked Masira off of the Going Merry.

* * *

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji had managed to bring some loot with them from the ship wreck. After everything had calmed down, they revealed what they had found.

"This is all garbage!" Nami was exasperated. They weren't able to find anything but junk!

Luffy walked around in a suit of armor. It was a conglomeration of different armors, but Luffy managed to look fearsome in the get-up.

"There was nothing important down there! It's a 200 year old ship!" Zoro yelled. He had almost gotten eaten just going down there. Now he was being told that he had found nothing of interest.

"Nami-swan! Please, forgive us!" Sanji thought Nami looked cute when she was angry, but he really didn't want to get hit now. Not when he was finally recovering from his Whiskey Peak adventure.

Nami turned to Luffy who was just walking around in the armor.

"And you! What are you doing walking around in all that stuff?!"

Luffy raised the visor that was on his helmet.

"I'm wearing armor to protect me from harm!"

After Nami was finished beating Luffy up, destroying his armor in the process, she climbed up the stairs towards the kitchen area. She needed to sit down.

Robin was sitting on the railing near the top of the stairs.

"For you, Navigator-chan." Robin handed her an Eternal Pose.

"What? Where did you get this?" It had the word "Jaya" printed on the side.

"I stole it from that monkey's ship. I believe it leads to his base of operations." She told Nami with a small smile.

Nami looked down and shook. Robin was afraid she had upset the younger woman.

She didn't have to worry anymore when Nami looked up, a grateful shine in her eyes.

"Thank you! I think you're the only one that understands me!" Nami cried tears of happiness. She didn't have to do everything now!

"Fufufufu...don't worry, Navigator-chan. I'll try my best to be of assistance."

"Jaya?" Nami shrieked a little when Luffy had peered over her shoulder.

She didn't know he could read!

"Is that where we're going?" Luffy asked, he had been excited earlier about the Sky Island, but he had no idea how to get up there. Best leave the directions to Nami.

"I think you should be the one choosing our destinations...but yes. We're going to Jaya."

"Maybe we can find more information on the Sky Island there?" Ussop added. Sky Island sounded like a pretty interesting place.

"Hey, Nami?" Chopper asked as he munched a little on some takoyaki. Zoro had caught a octopus on his head and Sanji fried it into takoyaki.

"Yes, Chopper?"

"If we go to Jaya, will we be able to get to Sky Island?" Chopper was afraid that they wouldn't get to go.

"If we were to leave before the Log Pose memorized the Sky Island's magnetic field, we should be able to get back." Robin told him.

Chopper didn't expect the new lady to answer him, but he was grateful all the same.

"T-Thank you." He said while he had his gaze to the deck of the Going Merry.

"Doctor-kun?" Robin's voice took a different tone. It sounded serious.

"Yes, Robin?" Chopper looked up. If it sounded serious, he would try to be serious as well.

"Is there any way you could make Rumble Balls that would affect Luffy and me?"

Now there was a question.

"Um, the Rumble Balls were actually made accidentally. I'm not sure if I can make them..." Chopper eyes started to go down, but he caught Robin's smile. It made him feel a bit more confident.

"...If you and Luffy were to give me some blood samples, I might be able to come up with something."

"Thank you, Doctor-kun." She smiled a bit more and watched as he joined Luffy and Ussop in another silly game.

* * *

The Going Merry docked near a bunch of pirate ships. Mayhem could be heard from the coast.

The Straw Hats were currently docked in Mock Town, the city of mockery.

Nami and Ussop watched as Luffy and Zoro walked away.

"Do you think they'll be fine?" Ussop asked in fear. This city scared him.

"No." Nami answered truthfully, "It's impossible for them to not cause trouble."

Nami just sighed. She knew that this town was filled with pirates, but Luffy and Zoro weren't the most careful of people.

"Do you want to go with them?" Ussop asked as he got up. He wanted to hide in the kitchen where Sanji was.

"No. I made them promise to try to find information...I'm not expecting much." Nami replied.

At least they were safe.

It was good that one of the three monsters decided to stay. With him and Ro-

"Wait!" He stopped and shouted, "Where's Robin?!"

"Who knows..." Nami said. It seemed Chopper was gone too.

"Maybe they went into the city?"

* * *

Luffy and Zoro helped this weak old man get back on his horse, who looked equally as weak as the man.

"Thank you, kind sirs." He held a basket out towards the two, "Would you like an apple?"

"Ooh! Apples!" Luffy shoved one of them into his mouth, devouring it whole.

"Er, no thanks. We're just here to find some in-"

An explosion occurred behind a nearby building. People started screaming something about exploding apples.

Zoro grabbed Luffy's neck in an attempt to remove the apple, but it was too late.

"Don't worry." The man said atop his horse, "I think he took the right one."

"What?! What do you mean "you think" he took the right one?!" Zoro was about to draw his blades. This man was dangerous!

"They're supposed to set off to explode when you take a bite. This man swallowed his whole! Though, I think he took the only one that wouldn't go off."

He looked Luffy in the eye.

"You're really lu-"

"Yeah, whatever! Thanks for the apple!" Luffy took off. He had only been here for a few minutes and he already got free food.

The man looked a little insulted about being interrupted. He took off slowly on his sickly horse.

Zoro sighed. They hadn't been in the city but for a few minutes and they were already dealing with weirdos.

* * *

Robin and Chopper had gone to a clothing store. They had just arrived from purchasing some medical supplies for Chopper to conduct his tests with.

Chopper had to hold some bags as Robin handed him some, but then he was forced to try out some clothing as well.

Children's clothing.

"Robin...why are we here?" He nervously asked. Clothing was too much for him as his fur already provided more than enough warmth.

She just giggled as she watched him in his clothes.

"We're almost done, Doctor-kun. Here, let me take this off of you." She began to undress him.

Chopper was surprised when Robin had gripped his shoulders tightly. She seemed to be in some pain.

"Robin? Are you alright?" He asked, a worried look upon his face. She was sweating a little too.

She stood there for a few moments before it looked like she realized what she was doing.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking about something." She smiled a bit before helping him with the pesky clothes.

The expression she had worn worried Chopper. He knew that look.

It was one of loss.

* * *

Before heading back to the ship, Robin had wanted to go to a bar to find out more information about the Sky Island.

She told Chopper to wait outside. Just in case something went wrong.

Chopper waited patiently, the sounds of the patrons inside worried him a little.

All of the noise seemed to stop for a moment before the bar erupted in laughter.

He wondered why they were laughing, but the noise was replaced by the sounds of bone breaking and some screams of fear.

Taking out a rumble ball, Chopper was about to jump into the bar when Robin walked out.

It seemed like she was okay.

"Alright, Doctor-kun. I managed to learn of where we can find more information about the Sky Island."

"What happened in there?" Chopper now had a curious expression.

Robin had to collect herself. She thought Chopper looked too cute sometimes.

"Some rude people laughed at me, so I decided to punish them for it."

The violent look in her eyes scared Chopper.

She was a really nice lady, but she could be frightening at times.

* * *

"Hey! Did you hear about that new government place in the forest?" Robin heard someone speaking.

"Hey! Keep it down! Don't let the pirates hear you!" This was interesting. It seemed that the citizens were hiding something from their local pirate visitors.

"Doctor-kun? Would you mind taking these back to the ship?" Robin offered the bags of clothes she held in her hands to him.

"Sure, no problem, Robin!" He transformed from Brain Point into Walking Point and she put the clothes on her back. She waved as he walked back to the Going Merry.

Forming an ear near the citizens, she overheard that the World Government had built a strange building in the forest. It was a quick and silent operation. Some pirates had also gone missing, but no one really noticed when an unknown pirate went missing, aside from their crew.

Looks like the World Government built what seemed to be a Facility on one of Jaya's uninhabited areas. It made some sense as they would have lots of test subjects, and some of them could be Devil Fruit eaters. This was the Grand Line after all, so there's a higher chance of finding one here than in the Blues.

Robin headed back to the Going Merry. She would have to search for it at night.

* * *

Noticing most of the crew were back, she listened to their conversation as she walked up to the deck.

"What happened?! Did you find any information?!" It seemed Nami was worried. Luffy and Zoro were not the quietest of people, so she must have thought they had caused a commotion.

"Well, there were a bunch of weaklings, but Luffy and I took care of them already." Zoro seemed to be calm. Even if they did cause a commotion, it's not like anyone would really care.

"Yeah! We first visited this really nice hotel, but some jerk was being mean, so I kicked his ass!" Luffy was laughing. Looks like they had some fun in town.

"Then, we went to this bar and I asked for information like you made us promise, but everyone started laughing at us! Some guy named Bellfatty tried attacking me too, but I knocked him out with one punch!" Luffy enthused.

"Well, it looks like we're not going to be chased out, so I guess it all worked out." Nami sighed. This was interesting. Luffy and Zoro actually tried to find information.

Robin finally arrived on the deck. It seems that Chopper had told everyone where they had gone.

"Oh? Robin! Did you find anything at all about the Sky Island?" Luffy asked as he laid on the floor.

"Yes, there's a man named Montblanc Cricket. It seems he was exiled for talking about his dreams, and he may be able to tell us more about the Sky Island."

Nami looked glad. "Finally! A person I can actually count on!" She yelled as she hugged Robin.

"Hey?! What about the rest of us!" Ussop exclaimed. He helped do things around the ship!

Like, repairing it to the best of his abilities and making that cool weapon for her!

"Oh! I forgot!" Nami moved to Chopper and hugged him, "You're reliable as well, Chopper!"

"Shut up!" Chopper seemed to be happy, "You're not making me happy, idiot!"

Luffy just laughed when he saw Ussop sigh.

Zoro had already found a spot to sleep. Hopefully, they would get there soon.

That big blacked haired guy almost got into a fight with Luffy about pies of all things.

It was tiring just trying to drag Luffy away. He really was too strong for his own good.

* * *

The Straw Hats decided to spend one night in Mock Town. It would take 4 days for their Log Pose to forget about the Sky Island.

Robin had snuck away from the women's bedroom, locking the top as she exited. She left a note for Nami saying that she would meet them all at Montblanc Cricket's house. A map was attached with a X marked where the house was.

As she exited the storage room, she was surprised to see Luffy on the deck of the Going Merry.

He was near the railing with his hands on it.

"Hey, Robin. You going somewhere?" He asked as he stared at the sea. The moon was reflecting off the waves.

"Hello, Luffy. I'm surprised to see you out here." She told him quietly as she moved to stand next to him. It would be worrisome if they were to wake the others up.

"Yeah, I'm surprised to see you out here too. I don't really sleep that much." He said, still staring out into the sea.

The waves gently rocked the Going Merry as they stood there for some time, just enjoying the sound of the sea.

"Luffy? May I ask a question?" She was now looking at him, awaiting a response.

"Sure, go ahead." He still had a blank look on his face, still staring at the black waters.

"Were you ever at a Facility?"

He turned to look at her. Curiosity replaced apathy.

"Yeah, I was. Why?"

"It's just a question I had to ask." She leaned her elbows against the railing, "I've been to one as well."

"Ah." He stood there for a moment.

"I was at the Goa Facility."

When she heard this, Robin started to giggle a bit.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing..."

She had been sent to recruit anyone from the Goa Facility by Crocodile. It was the reason she was in East Blue.

It was that reason that led her to Luffy.

"I heard that there was one in the area." She studied his face. Usually, Facilities inspired fear or hate in one of its former "patients".

"I see." His eyes closed and he looked to be thinking about something.

"Want to go destroy it?" Robin was still leaning against the railing, staring at Luffy to see if he would show any reaction.

"Sure." His eyes opened and he grinned.

His teeth were daggers.

* * *

They soon found themselves walking through the forest. They had already witnessed various crimes committed by some pirates, only stopping the ones that affected any civilians.

Pirates knew the life they led, but the civilians were innocent. They didn't deserve to suffer from scum.

"Have you ever heard of haki before, Luffy?" The search had gone on for a hour. They hadn't found anything yet, but she could sense excitement from Luffy's aura.

"Haki? Is that something I can eat?" Luffy licked his lips. Even now, he was still hungry.

She saw him pick up various creatures that they had come across and watched him devour them. Luckily, he didn't swallow them whole.

'I wonder if his body is protected against diseases and parasites?' She thought, 'That's another question for Doctor-kun.'

"No, it was just something I heard Crocodile mention." The name made her shudder.

The notes he had showed her still affected her. She felt a little ashamed at herself for making Chopper dress up as a kid.

It seems that it would take a while before she could accept that she had once birthed a child.

"Crocodile? What's haki supposed to be?" He saw another animal and shoved it in his mouth. Crunching noises came from his mouth.

The noises didn't disturb her. It would take a lot more from her meat eating friend to throw her off.

"I have a feeling that I know what it is. I've seen you display it as well."

"Really?" He finished eating and looked at her.

"Yes. I have had...an ability that allowed me to sense life forms, or even predict and enemy's actions."

"Oh! I did that too against that weirdo with the 3 for a haircut."

Robin agreed. She had seen him smash Mr. 3's face with his foot.

At first, she thought it was just because he was loud. Now, she knew the truth.

She felt a little happier. She liked it when she found the answer to her questions.

"Also," Robin stopped and started concentrating, "I'm able to do this..."

Black hands sprouted from her elbows, they shined in the moonlight.

"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!" Luffy quietly exclaimed.

"It was only recently that I found out." She dispelled the arms, and had to catch her breath.

It took a lot out of her.

"And you think I'm capable of that too?!" Luffy couldn't wait to do that! It looked so cool!

"I believe you are capable. Just focus on how much you want to hit something." She looked around, "Say, for example, that rock." She pointed at a boulder that was as tall as them.

"Alright!" He closed his eyes and faced the boulder with his hand out.

After a few seconds, the skin around his hand turned white.

Robin raised an eyebrow. She thought that his devil only showed itself when he was upset.

More time passed by, he was grunting in concentration.

Luffy opened his eyes.

The white on his hand slowly turned black and his arm shot out, striking the boulder and making it explode into pieces.

"Woah! That was so cool!" He jumped in joy.

"It certainly was impressive." She had noticed he didn't need to stretch his arm back first before sending it towards the boulder.

His rubber abilites got more interesting as time went by.

"Hey, Robin? My skin did that weird thing again. Man-in-a-station?"

"Manifestation, Luffy. I'm beginning to think that your devil shows more as your will to do something increases." It was something to think about.

"It was so cool! Now I can do that thing without having to think about the bad things that happened in the Facility!"

Robin cringed.

He had to remember that just to show his crew some of his transformation?

She felt sorry for Luffy. Nobody should have to do that.

* * *

They walked for a little while longer, and they found what they were looking for.

It was a plain building, almost blended in with the darkness around it. It was large and rectangular, with no windows. No garden was around it, which meant that it probably didn't contain any Devil Fruit eaters.

Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Are you ready, Robin?"

Robin crossed her arms and hands sprouted on her body.

"Yes."

Luffy charged at the building while she slowly followed.

* * *

After taking care of everyone inside, it seemed there were no survivors.

They had some traps installed, but Robin quickly disarmed them.

The building burned and the two watched the flames grow higher.

It was an uneventful trip. Nobody in the Facility was strong, but they had found something that had upset them.

Samples from both of them were in the Facility. Luffy and Robin made sure that those were destroyed.

It was almost morning. Robin had tracked how far they had gone, and it seemed like they were close to Montblanc Cricket's house.

"Well, that's done." Luffy said as he looked at his hands.

They were stained with blood. She had seen him rip some of the guards and scientists apart.

Her own were pretty clean, though her boots were stained on the bottom.

She had ripped a few apart too. Her black hands tearing through some of them and even erupting from within them.

It was a good test. If she made the black hands, she could even make hands underneath the skin.

Luffy wiped his hands on the ground, but couldn't get the blood cleaned off.

Robin handed him a handkerchief. It wouldn't do much, but it would help.

"Thanks, Robin! Now, how do we get back to the ship?" He wiped his hands with it and offered it back.

Robin shook her head and he threw the handkerchief away.

"We are to meet the others at Montblanc Cricket's house. It's not far from here."

"Shishishi! It all works out then!" Luffy was grinning as they walked away.

* * *

None of them spoke as they slowly approached a house.

Though they did stop when two gigantic monkeys ran inside it.

The rest of the Straw Hats could be heard from within. Luffy and Robin ran to the door to see what was happening.

The two monkeys turned to look at them as well as the rest of the Straw Hats.

A man was laid out on a bed, Chopper was holding a water bin while he was looking at the monkeys with fear on his face.

Ussop was already trying to climb out the window.

Nami had a rag in her hands. It looked like she was about to put it on the man on the bed's head.

Zoro and Sanji just stood around. It seemed like they were just trying to stay out of the way.

"Yo!" Luffy raised his hand in greetings as well as Robin.

Hopefully, they would find out what was going on.

* * *

**And another chapter out of the way!  
**

**I'm trying to decide if I should list Robin as one of the characters as she seems to have more screen time than the other Straw Hats. Stay posted though!**

**Next arc, is the Sky Island arc! I might split this one into chapters though.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter everyone! Let me know what you think!**


	13. Devil vs God, Fighting for One's Family

**Hello everyone! This is the Skypiea Arc, so I hope you all enjoy!**

**I combined this chapter with its other parts so the chapter would be longer. **

**Why? I believe that it gives me a few more extra epic points (which I sorely need) and I really like long chapters.**

**Thanks to toothless20 for catching my mistake! I uploaded Chapter 11 twice, but it has since been fixed. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

Most of the Straw Hats laid on the deck. The only ones that had managed to stay up were Luffy, Zoro, and Robin.

They had just gotten through the ordeal with the Knock Up stream. They were now floating on a cloud.

It had been pretty eventful after Luffy and Robin had shown up at Montblanc Cricket's house. It seems that the other Straw Hats had found Cricket as he surfaced from his diving. Chopper diagnosed him with compression sickness and they had been treating him before Masira and another monkey man named Shoujou, the brother of Masira, had barged in.

After Montblanc Cricket had awoken, Luffy, Chopper, and Ussop had expressed a desire to go to the Sky Island. Cricket had told them that it was a stupid dream, but he had helped them in the end. He had admired their spirit. He told them of a legendary Golden Bell that was mentioned in his ancestor's journal, Montblanc Norland as well as the City of Gold that Norland had found.

Luffy wanted to see this Golden Bell! It sounded like a great adventure!

All of Nami's objections to this "Sky Island" disappeared when Cricket told them of the City of Gold.

Masira's and Shoujou's pirate crews had helped prepare the Going Merry for the long journey ahead. The Straw Hats went hunting for a South Bird, a bird that always pointed south. They would need it to get back to the Knock Up Stream's location.

The Straw Hats caught the bird and the ship was completed. They headed towards the predicted site of the Knock Up stream and managed to catch it just in time. The tall, weird man with black hair had confronted them, but they saw his ship almost capsize.

"That really was something." Robin said as she helped everyone up.

Thanks to Nami's abilities, they managed to all stay alive and reach the Sky Island.

"I don't understand. How are we floating?" Ussop asked while he rubbed his chin. It just didn't seem possible to be floating on a cloud.

"We're on top of a cloud. Of course we can float." Luffy said like it was common knowledge.

He ignored the cries that it was impossible.

* * *

Ussop had decided to see what the Sky Sea was all about.

He made a big show of it, attracting the attention of Luffy and Chopper before he jumped right in.

The rest of the Straw Hats had ignored the show, but they were interested in what Ussop could discover.

Luffy was breathing loudly for some reason. Some of the other crew members found it hard to breathe as well, but it wasn't as bad as Luffy.

Minutes passed by, and Ussop had not resurfaced.

"Just a thought, but does a Sky Sea have a seafloor?" Robin asked, a sweat drop rolling down her cheek.

The Straw Hats stood in shock.

"Ussop!" Luffy cried as he jumped on the railing, sending his arm stretching into the Sky Sea.

"Ergh!" It seemed that this sea was able to affect him as well.

"Keep extending, Luffy!" Robin shouted as she crossed her arms.

"But I don't know if I'll get him!"

"Leave that to me!"

She formed eyes all over Luffy's arm and started searching.

Robin struggled. The sea was affecting her as well.

Eventually, Luffy's arm reached the bottom of the Sky Sea, which was only air. Ussop could be seen crying in fear a few meters away.

"Seis Fleur!"

Six arms sprouted from Luffy's outstretched one and grabbed Ussop.

"Alright! I got him! You can pull him in." She had to keep concentrating, but she dispelled her eyes. It was too strenuous to have too many Hana Hana's active.

At first, it seemed like Luffy was having an easy time, but then he began to grunt with effort. The sounds of his difficult breathing becoming louder.

"Come on, Luffy! You can do it!" All the crew shouted except for Zoro and Robin who just watched.

When Luffy was able to pull his arm up, he also brought up an unexpected guest.

A giant octopus had emerged, it started to grab onto the Going Merry and pull itself in. Another weird snake like fish had followed.

Zoro jumped up, ignoring some of the surprised screams. He slashed one of the tentacles that had attached itself to the ship.

It burst like a balloon and the rest of the squid deflated.

Sanji jumped up and hit the head of the snake-fish thing. It collapsed without much of a fight.

Luffy was about to do something, but his skin had turned white. He stood there in a fighting pose, continuing his loud breathing.

"What kind of creatures are these? Are they edible?" Sanji asked as he landed back on the Going Merry. The fish-snake thing had feebly latched on, not causing any damage to the ship.

Ussop started to scream loudly in pain.

"What is it now, Ussop?! What's with all the noise?!" Sanji yelled at him. He had done something stupid and dragged the rest of them into it.

"T-T-This was in my p-pants!" He pulled out this weird flat fish. It had very sharp teeth and a little blood was on them. It looked like it had bit Ussop a few times.

"Oh my, our day seems to be filled with troubles." Robin said as she took the fish away from Ussop.

Ussop fell to the ground, muttering, "Sky Island is scary..." over and over again. Chopper went to go check on him.

Robin began to discuss various theories with Nami, Zoro, and Chopper. It seemed that the creatures here were a bit different.

Luffy held his hands out to Robin with a hungry look on his face.

She smiled and gave him the fish. Nami hadn't noticed because she was looking at the other, bigger fish.

"Oh?! This is so good!" Luffy said as white blood seemed to drip from his mouth.

"Hey! We weren't done with that!" Nami screamed as she hit Luffy on the head. He didn't seem to notice as he continued eating.

Robin was reminded of a question she had earlier.

"Doctor-kun?" She asked.

Sanji had taken what little remained of the fish and cooked it. He gave some to Nami and she forgot about her anger. The fish was really good.

"Fry the larger guy too!" Luffy said. Sanji always managed to make things taste better!

"Yes, Robin? What can I do for you?" Chopper had been checking Ussop for any serious injuries, but luckily, no serious damage had occurred.

"I've been wondering something about Luffy." She turned to look at Luffy who had gotten a bit impatient and was already eating the face of the other fish.

"He seems to eat things raw. I'm worried that he might contract diseases or parasites from doing so."

Chopper put a hoof to his chin, something that Robin adored silently.

"Hm...that is something to worry about. He does always seem hungry..." Chopper hadn't thought of this question before.

It was never good to wonder about Luffy's eating habits.

"If I could perform a few tests, I might be able to find something out." He said with some finality. There really wasn't much that he could do. They didn't have a lab, a sterile room, or anything. The most her could really do is to take blood and analyze it.

Sanji had taken parts of the bigger fish with some help from Zoro. Luffy was told to be good and to sit down on the deck.

Chopper snuck up to Luffy and jabbed him with a needle.

"Ouch! Hey, Chopper! That surprised me!" Luffy mumbled a bit as he rubbed his arm.

"Sorry, Luffy. I just needed something." Chopper had to surprise him.

Earlier, when he was taking blood samples to analyze to see if he could make Rumble Balls for the other two Devil Fruit eaters, he found that Luffy didn't like needles very much. He had learned it the painful way.

* * *

A high pitch whining noise could be heard in the air.

Everyone looked around to find the mysterious noise when this man suddenly appeared over the Going Merry. He wore a strange mask, had weird looking skates on his feet, and wielded something that looked like a bazooka.

He kicked off Sanji and bounced off Zoro.

The man was just about to hit Chopper, but found that a white arm had blocked his skates.

He looked over to see a gaping maw of teeth about to bite his leg so he jumped off and landed on the railing of the Going Merry.

Zoro and Sanji were beginning to pick themselves up, but they seemed to have trouble breathing.

Luffy himself was still panting loudly. He sucked in mouthfuls of air, but it seemed he couldn't get enough.

The man jumped away from the Going Merry, breaking the railing and he pointed his weapon at them.

"I shall reject you!" He shouted towards them as his weapon was about to fire.

Luffy was prepared to throw his arm to grab the strange attacker, but a knight riding a weird pink bird knocked the man into the Sky Sea.

"Who is it now?!" Nami had pulled out the Clima-Tact. Even if it was mostly useless, she wanted to be able to defend herself.

The knight landed on the deck of the Going Merry.

"I am a knight of the sky, Gan Fall!" He exclaimed as he started to observe the Straw Hats.

"It seems that the man has retreated." Gan Fall turned towards the gasping Straw Hats, "Am I correct to assume that you're all from the Blue Seas?"

Zoro and Sanji were already up, but they had taken a knee. Luffy was hunched over and gasping loudly, Ussop was trying to help Luffy breathe.

It appeared that Gan Fall had arrived just in time.

* * *

Gan Fall proceeded to tell them all about the White Sea and the White-White Sea. The area they were in, White Sea, is 7000 meters above the Blue Seas while White-White Sea is 10,000 meters above the Blue Seas. He gave them a whistle so they could call him. First time they call him would be free, while all other times would cost 50 thousand extol. The Straw Hats had no idea what extol was.

Ussop and Chopper had fought over who should have the whistle, both claiming to be the weakest member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Nami decided that the whistle would stay on the mast, just in case someone needed help protecting the Going Merry.

"Are you three okay now?" Chopper had been examining everyone ever since Nami had decided what to do with the whistle. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were affected the most, their bodies needing more oxygen due to their immense physical strength.

Luffy was still panting heavily. This area was bad for him as his body needed the most oxygen. Zoro and Sanji were gradually getting better, but Luffy was just the same.

"We'll be okay." Zoro said, glancing at Luffy, "Can you do anything for him, Chopper?"

"I'm afraid I don't have anything that could make him better now." Chopper stopped examining Luffy, giving him a few pats on the arm while wearing a worried look on his face.

Luffy was still demonized. His face and body transformed. His black eyes just looking blankly where the man had been.

He was worrying the Straw Hats. Usually, he would be normal now, but it seemed it would take some time before he would move.

Robin had moved a bit away from him. The feeling that she got was stronger than ever. It was a bit overwhelming for her.

Gan Fall hadn't told them anything about the area, so they sailed the Going Merry around the White Sea. They eventually saw a gate like structure with the words, "Heaven's Gate" labeled on it.

They arrived and an old lady was waiting for them. After getting a picture of the Straw Hats, she had asked if there were 7 people wanting to go up, but changed it to 5. One looked like a reindeer and the other looked like a statue. She asked for money to pay a toll, but she made it clear she wouldn't stop them, so the Straw Hats moved on without paying the toll.

They had arrived on the White-White Sea. Some shrimp had taken them up. There was a sign that said "Godland Skypeia".

All of the Straw Hats, aside from Luffy, were shocked! This was the first time they had ever been to somewhere like this!

* * *

They approached the island. The clouds seemed to form the base for this, "Skypiea".

"Oh! It's so warm!" Ussop exclaimed as he jumped off and ran on the cloud island, "Sky Island is so cool!"

Chopper squealed with delight. The cloud was so soft, fluffy, and warm! He loved it!

Sanji jumped into the sea. He was interested in what fish he could find inside the clouds.

Nami jumped off and ran to where Ussop was. This was the first beach vacation she had experienced in a long time!

Zoro dropped the anchor onto the cloud island. It seemed to sink a little, but the cloud was stable enough to hold the Going Merry.

He looked over to Robin who just stood nearby. She was looking at Luffy with a worried expression.

"Are you going to go to the island?" Zoro asked her. He was worried about Luffy too, but he needed to make sure everyone else would be okay.

She didn't answer him for a bit.

"I'll be there in a while. I want to make sure that he'll be alright." She walked towards Luffy, despite that feeling growing stronger with each step. Whatever the feeling was, it was connected with his transformation.

"Alright." He turned to leave, "Just call out if you need help with him." He jumped off into the white sea below. Zoro seemed to lose his balance as he landed head first when he had intended to land feet first.

Robin approached Luffy. He was still staring where the masked man would have been.

"Luffy? Are you alright?" She touched his arm.

A hand shot out, almost grabbing her by the throat as Luffy moved violently. He stopped before he had actually touched her.

It seemed that he still retained some consciousness. He would have completely transformed if his devil was in control.

Robin didn't move. Luffy tended to act like a predator, moving away from him might provoke an attack.

She looked over to the shore. It seems that the others had found some natives of the Sky Island. The people looked a bit like angels as they had wings on their backs and a weird hairstyle that looked like they had two antennas.

Nami seemed to be riding some sort of scooter across the sea. She looked like she was having fun.

Robin looked back to Luffy. He still had his hand outstretched, but his fingers were no longer around her neck. He had put his arm down a little and stared at her, still continuing his panting.

"Luffy? It looks like the others are leaving." The Straw Hats were walking away, further inland. Nami was still on the scooter object.

"Would you like to go?" He didn't move. Luffy just stood there.

Thinking that she had to do something, Robin grabbed his arm and pulled. Luffy, surprisingly followed. She pulled him to the side and jumped off. His arm had stretched, but he jumped off as well.

They walked towards the others, Robin hoped that the others would fill her in on what was going on.

* * *

Nami hid behind a tree. She had just seen a massive lightning bolt come down on someone who had begged her for help.

She was just riding the waver across the White-White Sea when she had come across this island with gigantic trees. It looked pretty interesting. Until the murder.

'Luffy would love this place...' Nami thought. Luffy must not learn about this.

Some people had shown up. Even the masked man that had attacked the Going Merry!

Luckily, she was able to hide before anyone saw her.

"We just got a report on 5 illegal trespassers." Nami overheard their conversation, "What should we do about them?"

'5 illegal trespassers? Does he mean us?' That was strange, there were 7 of them. Unless you discount Luffy being weird and Chopper.

It didn't matter if it was 5 or 7. These people were dangerous! She had to warn the rest of the crew!

* * *

Chopper came out from the kitchen on the Going Merry. Luffy and Robin learned more about their hosts, Conis and Pagaya and about the mysterious wavers that were scooters that rode on the White-White Sea.

Chopper took Luffy back to the Going Merry to conduct some tests. In his current state, he seemed to be a bit relaxed, despite his breathing. He had just analyzed Luffy's blood and his body. Chopper came to one conclusion.

Luffy was truly weird.

Luffy followed as Chopper pulled on his arm. They were headed back to the others. They were on the beach with Conis and Pagaya, the nice sky people they had met. Nami wasn't back yet and Chopper was beginning to worry.

"Hey, Chopper! How's Luffy?" Sanji asked as he watched Conis and Pagaya look over the broken waver they had recovered from the galleon that fell from the sky.

Chopper looked at Sanji as he walked over with Luffy. Robin was some ways away watching the examination of the waver and Zoro was sitting on the ground with Ussop. It looked like they were eating something.

"He's...fine." Chopper replied, "His body is having trouble adapting to this place."

"Would you know why he's like that, Chopper?" Ussop asked, his mouth full of food. Chopper was still able to understand him though.

"No, not really. His body is different than a regular human's. It has to do with being a Devil Fruit eater."

"I might have an answer for you all, but it depends on why Luffy is having trouble adapting to this sea."

Everyone turned toward Robin who was sitting down on the sand. She looked like she was trying to put her thoughts together.

Chopper decided to explain as best as he could as he sat down in the sand, crossing his arms, closing his eyes, and holding his head a little down.

"Well, Luffy's heart rate is much higher than a normal human's. That means he needs more oxygen."

"Also," He looked towards Robin, "It seems as though his body is much tougher as well. Everything about his body is stronger than a normal human's, and I don't think parasites would be able to live in his body, as it's made of rubber. Diseases don't affect Luffy much either because of the same reason. His body is just naturally strong enough to fight off most microscopic intruders."

Robin smiled at Chopper.

"Thank you, Doctor-kun. I would be a bit sad if Luffy were to die unexpectedly of a parasite bursting through his chest."

Ussop just freaked out at the mental image that provided.

"Hey! Robin! Don't say stuff like that!" He shuddered, "That sounds scary!"

She just laughed.

"Now, I might be able to explain why Luffy's in that state."

This grabbed all of the Straw Hat's attention. They didn't notice Conis and Pagaya talking with some men in white, military-like clothing.

"It seems he's manifesting his devil, but I assume it's more of a self-preservation mode. With the lack of air, he must feel like he is suffocating, which would cause his devil to try to preserve his life."

"That doesn't really explain why he's like that." Zoro said as he rubbed his chin, "Why would this, "devil" come out to preserve his life? Why doesn't it just let Luffy die?"

It might have been a morbid thought, but Zoro didn't know much about this devil Robin kept talking about.

Robin paused, and then made a slight grimace.

"Truthfully, I don't know much about the whole thing, just tidbits of information I have gleaned from those who know more than I. The devil might come from the Devil Fruit, but it takes on traits from the eater of its fruit, so in a way, the devil is a part of Luffy."

She motioned towards the demonized Luffy, who still stared blankly at them, panting.

"From what I can gather about him, his body appears to be made of natural rubber. His teeth are sharpened and I've noticed he tends to try to eat his enemies. That suggests that hunger is something Luffy feels strongly about." She put a hand to her chin.

"He's violent and at times, seems uncontrollable when he manifests. Has Luffy told any of you about nightmares or anything like that?"

Ussop raised his hand.

"Yeah, he once told me he doesn't sleep very much. He gets about 3 hours a day."

Chopper gasped.

"3 hours?! That's not enough for anyone! It's unhealthy!"

"I noticed he does that too." Zoro decided to pitch in, "He would always take on watch duty. I didn't think much of it at first, but he rarely sleeps."

"I see..." Robin collected this information and added her own to it.

Luffy must have have terrible nightmares. The World Government Facilities tend to leave that mark on its victims.

Sanji was clueless, but decided to stay out of it. He had noticed Luffy's transformations, but all this talk about "devils" and Luffy not sleeping was over his head.

"So," Sanji began, "If there are devils in every Devil Fruit, have you two seen yours?" He asked Chopper and Robin.

Chopper frowned and looked to the ground. He had seen something, but wasn't sure what it was still.

"Devils don't normally manifest." Robin answered.

"Why not? It seems Luffy does it everyday."

"Luffy is a special case." Robin started to notice the people with Conis and Pagaya coming closer. It seemed there would be trouble soon.

"Devil Fruits grow stronger with how strong one's will is, but their manifestation is determined by how strong their mind is."

"Oh, that explains it. Luffy's a stubborn, willful bastard and he's stupid. Therefore, he has great power, but not enough control to keep it in."

"In a way. Luffy is the most willful person I know."

"But since you and Chopper are a bit stronger in the intelligence department, your devils don't manifest?"

Robin smiled.

"Doctor-kun and I might be able to control ourselves a bit more than Luffy, but the transformation has nothing to do with intelligence. Luffy is very passionate, and he sometimes loses himself to that passion."

She remembered how Luffy would react to certain situations where he had displayed such passion. He really was a reckless guy, but his heart was in the right place.

The people in white approached them. They said that the Straw Hats had committed the crime of illegally entering Skypeia. Their punishment was to pay a toll 10x greater than the one they had ignored.

In the distance Nami could be seen. She was shouting at them to not fight the men, but after learning from Sanji who yelled that they would have to pay the toll at 10x the normal price, she smashed the waver into one of the white clothed men's face.

* * *

Enel had just been busy being worshiped by some of his loyal subjects when he had sensed something terribly wrong.

It had appeared not too long ago, but it was already his biggest problem.

There were two new lifeforms that had winked into existence. The reason why they were so troublesome was because of how strong they were.

One felt like a great beast of destruction. He could sense the rage emanating from the thing.

The other was like a cool breeze. It felt a little pleasant, but the power it held had potential to become a great storm.

He had tried to listen to the creatures, intending on finding out more, but all he could hear was deep and heavy panting.

It was maddening.

He sensed that some of his followers were nearby. They seemed to be no match for the enraged one, as when they had attacked the group, the furious monster demolished them.

It was more merciful than he had expected. It let the weaklings live.

The calm one moved away from the raging beast. It seemed that they had boarded a ship nearby with some other presences.

Enel smiled as he sent for a Super-Express Speedy Shrimp to bring the ship to him.

He was interested in these beings. Maybe they could amuse him for a while?

* * *

Luffy stumbled as he tried to stand on the small boat named Karasumaru.

Luffy, Ussop, and Sanji had just left for Upper Yard, the land where the god, Enel, lived. Conis had explained that the shrimp that had taken the Going Merry away was a Super-Express Speedy Shrimp, an animal only controlled by Enel. She also gave them the boat, Karasumaru, to take them there.

He had this weird feeling like someone had tried to look at them, but he didn't care too much about that. Luffy only wanted to protect his family from anyone who wanted to harm them.

His panting was decreasing. It was getting easier to breathe now, but he still breathed slightly faster.

Luffy still remembered that strange man that had attacked Chopper. The man was able to take Zoro and Sanji down with one hit.

What would happen if he had kicked Chopper? Luffy didn't want to find out, so he had prevented the man from hurting Chopper.

Breathing was painful. He couldn't catch his breath as he stood glaring at the attacker. The feeling of wanting to protect his family was too strong for him to rest.

The feeling still strongly resounded inside Luffy. He would protect his family from whatever posed a threat to them.

This god, Enel, had made a tragic mistake. One that he was going to pay for.

* * *

The rest of the Straw Hats stood on the Going Merry. There was something that looked like an altar near where they were docked.

They had already surmised that they were brought here by the god, Enel, but Zoro wasn't going to wait for something he didn't even believe in.

Robin and Nami had gone with him, leaving Chopper to repair the boat by himself.

Chopper had managed to repair most of the damage, but he was inexperienced as a shipwright. The measly repairs had not done much for the ship.

He had apologized profusely to the Going Merry for his shoddy work.

Chopper was now sitting on the deck, various medical supplies and ingredients laid before him.

Making Rumble Balls for the other two Devil Fruit eaters had been problematic, but he was sure all he had to do was change a few ingredients. They seemed to be both paramecia types, so it made things a bit simpler.

He made sure he was going to color code the medicine. Luffy was more sensitive to medicine, so he had to use less.

Robin's was going to be a deep purple while Luffy's was to be a brick red.

Hopefully, this would be able to help them master their Devil Fruits. Maybe it would help them find out more about the fruits themselves?

* * *

Zoro was walking in a direction he felt was right.

"Where do you think you're going?! That's back to the Going Merry!" Nami yelled at him for what seemed to be the sixth time.

She and Robin had just been changing inside the Going Merry when something had moved the ship.

Nami was glad that the women's room was far away from any of the men. She would have been embarrassed if any of them had seen her fall on Robin.

The land that she had seen was called the Upper Yard. When she had arrived on the Going Merry's deck, she saw the land had surrounded them.

They were currently in Upper Yard. God must have wanted something from them.

Zoro had told them all he was going to go exploring, Robin wished to go with him. Those two seemed curious about the area and Robin had snagged her too when she mentioned that they might find lots of treasure to repair the Going Merry and have some left over.

'Damn her and her manipulative ways!' Nami had lamented while her mind was filled with thoughts of treasure.

They had left the Going Merry and were now walking towards the huge forest.

Nami pulled Zoro back to the right path. He was too troublesome at times, but he did mean well.

Zoro had saved her from being skewered by Mr. 1 back in Alubarna.

"I'm sorry, but could you two go on without me?"

Nami turned to see Robin walking away hurriedly.

"What? Where are you going, Robin?" Nami asked, tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

Robin was a huge help. If she had to drag Zoro around by herself, it would be painful.

For the both of them.

"I'm afraid that something has currently caught my attention." Robin had her back turned to the two as she slowly disappeared behind the vegetation on Upper Yard.

"I'll catch up with you two shortly. Don't worry about me."

Nami could hear the smile that Robin usually wore, but it seemed forced.

"Oh no, she left. I'm stuck with you now." Zoro mumbled. He liked Robin's attitude more than he liked Nami's.

She wasn't as bossy as Nami was.

* * *

Robin could hear Nami beating Zoro up. She giggled a little.

It was funny how Nami would hurt the more unruly Straw Hats' spirits.

Frowning as she continued walking, she made sure she was far enough from the other two.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" Robin asked, her words echoing through the air.

"Ah. You noticed me."

A lightning bolt struck the ground. After the flash disappeared, a man was standing where it had struck.

He had long ear lobes. That was the first thing she had noticed. They were all the way down to his shoulders.

He wore a bandana, and a weird set of drums on his back that carried the same symbol on each one. Orange pants with a blue sash were his only other clothing.

"I was able to sense you a while ago. You have an interesting aura." He told her.

"I am God. My name is Enel."

"Sense?" Robin inquired. He had the same ability she did?

"Yes, I possess the ability called Mantra. I am able to sense every living being in my land. You and another have intrigued me." He began to walk towards her.

Every step he took was one that she took backwards. She didn't want him near her.

He felt dangerous. Judging by the lightning strike he had showed, Robin suspected one thing.

This man had eaten a Devil Fruit. A logia.

"You have proven yourself worthy by being able to notice me. You are allowed to be one of my followers." It didn't matter how far she went, he would be able to follow.

"Sorry, God. I only follow one man." Robin started to cross her arms.

He seemed so sure of himself. Enel thought that it was a honor to serve him.

"Oh? Who is this man you follow?" Enel wasn't worried that she had denied him.

She would eventually see that he was almighty. That she had no choice but to accept his generous invitation.

"My captain."

"You mean the abomination I felt? The one filled with rage?" Enel started to laugh.

"Yaaahahahaha! At first, I had thought that was an animal. It is a man? Very well. I shall show you that it is a honor to follow me by destroying this person."

Arms sprouted from the ground near him, trying to grab his ankles, but he merely let them pass through his body, shocking them as they did so.

Robin suppressed a cry. He hands had little burn marks surrounding them now.

"You possess an ability too? Even more impressive. You're proving yourself more and more." Enel was calm. He didn't believe she could pose a threat.

Robin had an idea, but wasn't sure if it would work.

Her black hands worked on Crocodile. Would they work on this man?

She rushed towards Enel. There was only one way to find out.

Enel saw the woman running closer to him. Had she given up?

'No matter.' He thought, 'Let her see how useless it is to defy God.' He stopped walking towards her.

Why bother when she would come to him?

As she got closer, he didn't notice the black hands sprouting near his ankles and behind him.

Suddenly, Enel felt hands grab his ankles and keep him to the ground. Arms had sprouted behind him and pushed him forwards a bit, keeping him in place.

Before he had time to think, Robin was already at him, her left arm had turned black.

Enel wore a surpised look on his face as he felt Robin clothesline his neck, the arms behind him pushed him into the attack.

She had formed more arms on her back to support and empower her left as she attacked.

Enel had a weird, shocked expression on his face. Before the arms had disappeared from his back and allowed him to fall to the ground, she had thought it was ridiculous.

Enel writhed on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Robin's arm had left an imprint on his neck.

A lightning bolt had struck his body, and as the flash disappeared, Enel was gone.

Robin stood there panting. She never usually hit people with her own body, but Enel seemed to possess the ability she had known as haki, which he had called mantra.

He seemed arrogant enough to allow her to attack him with her own arm. He must have thought it wouldn't affect his lightning body.

Robin could feel his neck as she hit him. It must have at least damaged him a little.

She dropped to one knee. Using that many black arms had taken a lot out of her.

Robin wondered if Zoro and Nami were getting impatient. She hoped she would be able to meet up with them soon.

That is, unless God decided to smite her for her blasphemous attack on his person.

* * *

A lightning bolt struck the ground in an area far away from the woman named "Robin". He learned of her name while she walked with her companions.

Enel laid on the ground, his body repairing itself.

That woman had managed to hurt him! He was God! How was she able to?!

He rubbed his neck as he thought about his next move.

She would have to pay for her transgression, but he would wait.

'Let's see how well she does in my little game.' Enel thought as he picked himself up.

He wouldn't be taken by surprise again. Enel was going to make sure of that.

* * *

Sanji and Ussop had fear written all over their faces as they fell from a waterfall. Luffy looked impassively, he was still transformed. They were still riding in Kamasumaru.

They had arrived in what looked like Upper Yard and they came across four doors. They had writing across the doors, describing them as a certain type of trial.

Sanji thought angrily as they fell to what appeared to be their doom, why he had listened to Ussop.

Who the hell would want to take a trial of balls?! That was utterly ridiculous!

They made a splash as the Kamasumaru hit the white waves below. They were following a path that had weird white balls floating everywhere. Kamasumaru was small enough to not run into any of them, but they hovered closely around them.

They floated down the path for a while. The orbs slowly moving around the area.

Ussop had grabbed one of them, throwing it at Luffy.

What nobody there expected was for a snake to pop out of it, trying to bite Luffy.

He hit it away from him, sending it straight into the cloudy water.

"These things have snakes inside them!" Sanji said as he looked around. The orbs were now dangerous and there were so many!

Another one was in their way and Sanji tried to kick it before it had snakes shooting out at them.

The orb exploded and sent the three flying off the boat.

Luffy scooped the other two in one of his arms and pulled them away from the waves. They landed on some solid ground.

"Hoh hoh hooo! Isn't that fun? They're surprise orbs!" A voice shouted above them.

Luffy thought it would be fun to smash that voice's head in.

* * *

Chopper had finally perfected one for each of his fellow ability users.

One red and one purple Rumble Ball were now completed.

The whistle that Gan Fall had gifted to the Straw Hats hung around his neck as well. He thought he would need it if he needed help defending the Going Merry.

He looked around, hearing a strange "wooshing" noise.

Something crashed down next to him.

A giant bird and a man with a long spear was riding it were now in front of him.

"Oh? You're the only sacrifice to kill?"

Chopper blew into the whistle as hard as he could with a scared-shitless expression.

* * *

Luffy, Ussop, and Sanji were now riding the Kamasumaru again.

They had been fighting some fat priest who shot the weird white balls at them. It had been a tough fight as the balls had random stuff popping out of them.

Luffy had attempted to grab the man, but he had blocked Luffy with the white balls. Luffy seemed to be unable to predict which one was safe to hit or not.

They were able to beat him after Luffy had accidentally found how the man controlled the white balls. He had connected a line to them and swung it around. Luffy had grabbed onto the line and reached the ball man, holding him down.

Sanji had finished him with a Concassé, smashing his head into the ground.

The man didn't look alive, but the Straw Hats didn't care. He was way too annoying.

* * *

They had finally arrived at the Going Merry.

Just in time to watch the knight of the sky, Gan Fall, plummet into the sea.

"What the-?! What's going on?!" Sanji yelled. There was another man flying on a much bigger bird above the Going Merry.

They could see the ship burning a bit. It looked like it had been abandoned.

"No! Merry!" Ussop tried to paddle Kamasumaru faster. He watched as the flames were slowly roasting the ship.

Luffy had thrown his arm at Merry, grabbing the side. He started to pull them in.

The man was coming down towards the Going Merry, he had a spear pointed at something on the deck.

The three Straw Hats saw that Chopper was still on board, some of his fur was singed and he looked hurt.

Luffy felt himself freeze before rage took hold of his thoughts.

"Luffy! You go help Chopper! We'll be there soon!" Ussop shouted as he stopped paddling, pulling his slingshot from his pocket.

Ussop shot a Lead Star at the man and watched as it hit the side of his head.

He looked surprised, but he also looked angry.

The man was about to head for them, but had to dodge an enraged Luffy who had rocketed towards him.

He was not able to dodge the hand that Luffy had grabbed him with and was forced off of the bird, flying deeper into the forest with Luffy.

Sanji and Ussop rushed over to the Going Merry and climbed aboard. Ussop started to put out the fires that had started.

"Chopper! Are you a-"

"Sanji! Save that knight! Please! Save the knight of the sky!" Chopper begged Sanji as he cried.

Gan Fall had saved Chopper's life and the Going Merry. He didn't want to just let him die!

"Alright, Chopper! Try to patch yourself up!" Sanji ran to the side of the Going Merry and jumped off, positioning his body to dive into the water.

Just before he hit the white sea below, he saw Luffy's arm still in the place where he had grabbed the man that was on the bird. The bird had flown off.

The arm looked tightly coiled. Sanji hoped Luffy would give him what he deserved.

* * *

Zoro, Nami, and Robin were returning to the Going Merry. They had discovered something incredible.

Skypiea was actually part of Jaya! Montblanc Norland had claimed that the island had sunk beneath the waves of the Blue Sea, but it actually rose to the clouds!

They needed to get back to Chopper. This forest was too dangerous to just leave him alo-

A familiar thundering roar could be heard in the air.

"Hey." Zoro started, "Isn't that Luffy?"

As if answering his question, something crashed a few meters in front of them.

Luffy and a strange man could be seen in the crater.

An arm could be seen stretching from the direction they had come from. It appeared to be not only twisting, but it was also bending a little.

A fist connected with the now arching arm came from the distance. It slammed into the man and Luffy's arm began to drill into the man.

Blood went flying through the air as the man screamed, but he couldn't be heard over Luffy's growling.

The only thing the other three could think of was that this was very unexpected as the man's cries slowly died out and Luffy stood above the corpse.

Whatever had made him angry, Zoro was willing to bet it had something to do with Chopper.

"Everyone! Let's go!" Zoro shouted as he ran towards Luffy.

He grabbed his arm and Luffy looked up at him with monstrous eyes.

"Come on, Luffy! There's no point in standing around here!" He pulled Luffy in the direction he thought the Going Merry was in. They had to make sure everything was alr-

"You idiot! The Going Merry isn't that way!"

Zoro sighed. He was getting tired of his lack of direction.

* * *

All of the Straw Hats were finally reunited. It had taken a while, but everyone seemed to be okay.

Gan Fall survived along with his bird, Pierre. Chopper wasn't too badly hurt, but some of his fur would take some time before it grew back. Luffy seemed to be getting used to the lack of air, but continued his weird panting. The others were all fine.

They needed to set up camp on the Upper Yard. The Going Merry was too damaged to sleep in.

Chopper pulled Luffy and Robin to the side. He needed to share his experiments.

"What's this? Candy?" Luffy stared at the red and the purple balls in Chopper's hoofs.

"This is a prototype Rumble Ball for both of you to try out." He handed them the Rumble Balls.

"Hey, Chopper?" Nami called out, "Don't you think you should wait to try that out?"

Chopper looked at her for a second.

"Ah! You're right. We're in a dangerous place." He turned back to Luffy and Robin. Both of them were already chewing on the Rumble Balls.

"We should wait for a be- what?! Don't eat them now!" Chopper cried as he tugged on Luffy's cheeks.

"Hey, Chopper! It's too bitter..." They had already eaten the Rumble Balls.

"I should have expected that from Luffy, but why did you eat yours, Robin?!"

"I'm interested in finding out what the Rumble Ball does. Hopefully, we won't die in agony." She answered calmly.

"Don't say that..." Chopper was in tears. He didn't want something bad to happen to the two.

A few minutes passed by, but nothing had happened.

"Do you have anymore, Chopper? Sanji's being stingy."

"That's weird, maybe it has no affect on you two?"

"Doctor-kun?" Robin said as she held her head in one hand, "What is this Rumble Ball supposed to do?"

"Well, instead of distorting the wavelengths of the transformations, this one strengthens the wavelength, since paramecia type Devil Fruits don't have different forms."

Chopper looked closely at the two. Luffy was still panting, but his skin had turned white. Robin held her head in one hand, her eyes were closed.

Luffy burped.

"It looks like it's unsuccessful. At least it doesn't seem to have any harmful side-effects."

Robin stopped holding her head and looked at Chopper.

"Thank you, Doctor-kun, for doing this little experiment. We might have to try this again sometime."

Chopper stared in shock at Robin, though she couldn't see it as she was walking away.

Luffy stared at Chopper and laughed. Luffy thought that Chopper's facial expression was funny.

"L-Luffy?" Chopper asked him, "Was Robin's eyes blue or brown?"

Luffy started to pick his nose.

"I dunno, but it looks like Sanji is ready to serve dinner! Let's go, Chopper!" He dragged him over to where the food was being served.

After eating, they had discussed what they were up against. Sanji and Ussop had said that there were priests of the god, Enel, and that they were their enemies. Chopper had told everyone that the man Luffy had killed was a priest as well.

Robin mentioned that they all had an ability called "mantra". They would be able to sense where they all were and that they could predict attacks.

Luffy was confused why she didn't mention anything about their ability, "haki", because it sounded a lot like this mantra thing, but he didn't say anything. There was no point in getting all worked up about it.

Nami had cried out in joy when they all discovered that there really was a City of Gold

Nami had deduced the location by using Luffy's map with a map of Skypiea. Robin had told her of what Montblanc Cricket had shared with her. His ancestor, Montblanc Norland's last words were "The city lies in the skull's right eye.".

The landmasses of Skypiea and Jaya, when combined, looked like a skull.

Nami was beyond happy. A City of Gold?! This must really be heaven!

* * *

"Tomorrow, cancel all restrictions! All of you will go and eliminate the intruders!"

Enel was telling his soldiers about his plans for the next day from his throne surrounded by women and delicious food.

Tomorrow was the day where he would finally ascend to Fairy Vearth.

He remembered the woman named Robin. Enel would make her regret crossing him. Starting with that beast she called a captain.

Laughing, he began to indulge himself in the many pleasures he had surrounded himself with.

Her pain would be like fine wine to him and he would take her with him to continue her suffering.

It was great to be God!

* * *

It was the day after everyone had arrived in Upper Yard.

They had all partied last night, even taming some of the wolves that lived in the forest and they all had a great time. Robin actually joined in, dancing with Nami and being more open than usual, but nobody really noticed.

Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin were sent to go find the City of Gold while Nami, Ussop, Sanji, and the injured Gan Fall were going to navigate the ship out of Upper Yard.

The Going Merry had seemingly repaired itself. A shaky testimony from Ussop revealed that a ghost had done it, but not too many of them payed too much attention to the story.

"Would you please tell them that we're headed South, Doctor-kun?" Robin asked Chopper as they watched Luffy and Zoro try to head in the wrong direction again.

It was funny how they would always go in opposite directions, but it got old really quickly. Luffy forgetting that they were headed South, while Zoro wanted to go right.

"Eh? Sure, Robin!" Chopper said with confidence. He felt much safer with these 3.

Aside from Sanji, they were the strongest in the Straw Hat Pirates.

They had traveled some ways from the Going Merry and they hadn't seen anything of interest.

Luffy had started singing his infamous "Baka Song", and Chopper had joined him.

Robin just smiled at the display while Zoro was trying to be as alert as possible to detect anything dangerous.

They all stopped when a giant snake had appeared before them, saliva dripping from its gaping maw.

"Well," Everyone looked at Zoro, "I hope you're happy, Luffy. Something interesting found us."

Luffy's laughter could be heard as the snake lunged towards them.

* * *

The other Straw Hats had listened to Gan Fall as he told them the story of Skypiea.

Earth was something that didn't exist in Sky Islands, so Upper Yard had seemed like a gift from God. The inhabitants of the land tried to protect it, but they were unable to after some time. A war had existed for more than 400 years. Until Enel showed up.

He was God now. Gan Fall was the previous God, the term being used to describe the leader of Skypiea. Enel had taken many things from Skypiea. Their dials, their people, and their prospects of peace with the inhabitants, who were called the Shandians.

Enel manipulated the people to make them believe that he truly was God. His powers had just reinforced his claims.

Gan Fall also showed them various dials so that they may learn of their abilities. He demonstrated by having Sanji hit an impact dial and using its force on a barrel.

Simply put, the three Straw Hats had not expected the impact dial of having such an incredible ability.

They never noticed the strange man watching them from afar, a maniacal grin on his face.

* * *

Luffy and his group were running from the giant snake.

Zoro had the most trouble as he tried his best to run away, but he was too restricted on the ground.

Chopper was in Walking Point. Despite its name, he was running for his life, being a bit better off than Zoro due to his animal appendages.

Robin had formed legs and feet to help her climb to areas that were impossible for the others. She watched as the others slowly ran away from her current position.

Luffy was in the least danger, being too fast for the snake. He jumped around and managed to rocket away.

After the snake had disappeared, they all looked around themselves to see who was lost.

Robin was a bit unsettled as she noticed she was the only one in the area. It would be hard trying to find the others, so she just hoped that they would find their way to the City.

Luffy had rocketed to an unknown area. He didn't see anyone, but Robin had told him all he had to do was go in a straight line to reach the City, so he did that.

Zoro had managed to see Chopper running in fear, though the snake was no longer around. Knowing that he had the worst sense of direction, he followed after Chopper.

* * *

Enel had attacked Sanji and Ussop, sending them into unconsciousness.

Or worse.

He had come to torment Gan Fall about the death of his militia. The ones that had protected Skypiea when Gan Fall had been God.

Gan Fall cursed Enel, claiming he would get revenge for all those he had wronged.

Enel laughed at his threats and left. He was going to go reduce the number of participants in his game.

He said that only 5 out of 81 people would survive, and he would make sure that only 5 people remained.

* * *

Luffy looked at the man in front of him, barely able to contain his rage at his presence.

It was the man who had attacked the Going Merry when they had first arrived in Skypiea. The man responsible for attacking his family.

They had briefly fought, the man having great skill, but Luffy was much stronger.

The strange man had a weird bazooka that shot laser beams. Luffy had taken one directly, but was able to deal a lot of damage to the man.

Luffy was prepared to do more, but he had restrained himself.

He had the feeling that the man was no longer after him. The man had a different goal in mind.

Luffy rocketed away. He didn't have time to be messing around with weaklings.

As he flew through the air, he noticed Robin facing this weird fat guy. They were in a field.

Using a quick "Gum Gum Balloon", Luffy was able to slow his flight.

At least he found one of his friends. He knew his sense of direction was better than Zoro's!

* * *

Zoro was currently in a predicament.

Chopper had run all over the place, and Zoro had to stop to fight this one guy with flashing guns.

It was annoying. The man also had weird skates that allowed him to move almost instantly.

"Santoryu: Tatsumaki!" He shouted as he spun in a circle with his swords drawn, cutting up a bunch of the weird people that had gotten in his way.

He could hear gunshots too. Quickly concentrating, Zoro could hear the breath of the bullets.

It was time to retaliate.

* * *

Chopper was now fighting for his life.

He had run into another priest who controlled the trial of swamp. He wore purple clothing, and his hair looked like a spider.

The man had introduced himself as Gedatsu, but after he did so, he rolled his eyes up and tried talking with his mouth closed.

Chopper silently hoped that the man would forget to breathe so that he could just pass through without any trouble.

* * *

"Do you know what you have done?"

Robin currently held the man who called himself Yama up by the head, several arms pulling his eyes open.

Yama was a big, spherical shaped man. He had tried to attack her in some ruins of the City she had found, but he had learned that she was no one to mess with.

Using her black arms, she easily used a delphinium to roll him away.

After doing so, she proceeded to slam him into the surroundings. Multiple times.

"I'm so sorry. Please, forg-"

"No." She was tired of this man. He had shown no respect for the ruins and had annoyed her to no end.

He was beyond forgiveness.

Black arms sprouted from within the man's body, splattering his blood around the area.

Some of it got on Robin, but she didn't care.

She wanted this man to suffer.

Yama was crying out in pain. His suffering would last a little while longer.

It was unforgivable to not care about the past. People can create new history, but it was impossible to return to the past!

"Hey! Robin!" That was odd. Robin swore she could hear Luffy.

A crash occurred next to her, sending some dirt through the air. As it cleared, she was right in her suspicions.

Luffy had managed to find his way there. He must have been lying about his sense of direction, or he was just lucky.

Having known Luffy for almost a month, she knew it was luck.

"Hello, Luffy." She would have smiled at him, but was currently taking delight in the screams Yama produced.

"I'm glad to see that you have arrived."

"Ah, thanks! So, what's going on here?" Luffy put a hand on his hat as he walked towards Robin.

Black hands sprouted all over Yama, a new one bursting from his skin every minute. His arms and legs seemed to be broken.

"I'm teaching someone the importance of history." She said, a small smile now forming on her face.

An arm had just destroyed something precious to Yama and now he seemed to reach a new level of pain.

Luffy grimaced, the first time she had ever seen him do so.

"You know, Robin, you can be pretty brutal sometimes. I'm glad that we're friends." Luffy said as he stopped looking at Yama.

Looking at the fat man hurt.

Deciding to take it a step further, she increased the frequency of the arms.

Turning her head towards Luffy fully, she put on the widest smile she could muster and said in the sweetest voice,

"Thank you, Luffy. It means a lot for you to say that I'm brutal after I've seen you deal with your enemies."

Luffy just grinned.

Looks like they had more in common than he had thought. They stood there for a while as Yama's life slowly faded away.

* * *

Chopper had never wished for one of his friends to show up at this very moment to protect him, than he had ever in his life.

This "Gedatsu" was really strong! He had just taken out that lamb guy with one punch!

Gedatsu was currently trying to cross his arms, but he wouldn't bend his elbows so he just kept sliding his arms together.

But he was really stupid. Using this distraction, Chopper ate a Rumble Ball and used Scope.

His weakness was his shoes. This might be easy, or it might be hard depending on his courage.

Gedatsu had gotten in his attacking stance, about to unleash another Jet Punch.

Switching to Jumping Point, Chopper hopped a little to the side, Gedatsu was already where he had just been standing.

Chopper jumped towards Gedatsu's legs, keeping himself low to the ground.

He switched to Heavy Point as he got to Gedatsu's foot. He grabbed hold and his momentum + mass had tripped Gedatsu.

Taking Gedatsu's shoe off, he switched to Guarding Point just as Gedatsu used another Jet Punch.

Chopper flew to a wall and bounced off. The Guarding Point had reduced the damage a little, but he still felt the punch.

Gedatsu wouldn't let up with his Jet Punches. Chopper had to switch between Jumping Point and Walking Point to dodge the attacks.

Thinking quickly, Chopper jumped back.

"I can't hear you if you don't speak your words!" Chopper shouted. He had repeated what Gedatsu's ally had told him before.

Gedatsu paused and slowly made a shocked face. Apparently, he had actually been thinking of something, even though Chopper had done it as a bluff.

Jumping towards him in Jumping Point, Chopper switched to Arm Point just as he reached Gedatsu.

"Carving Hoof Cross!"

His hoofs had scraped against Gedatsu, but the strength he had put into it had gouged Gedatsu greatly, and had sent him flying against the ground.

Gedatsu eventually landed in one of his own swamp clouds, a trap he had placed that led to the bottom of the White-White Sea. He tried to get out by using his boots that had milky dials in them, but he currently only had one boot on. Gedatsu sunk into the swamp cloud, far away from Chopper.

Chopper was panting. The air was still thinner than he was used to, but he had gone over his normal limits when he had dodged Gedatsu's attacks.

A realization suddenly hit Chopper.

This was the first fight he had won by himself. He had done it!

He was a real pirate!

Switching to Brain Point, he raised his arms and gave a victory cry, his high pitch voice reverberating around the area.

* * *

Zoro had felt he had been given a bad hand, but this was perfect for trying out his new technique.

The man with the guns wasn't bad. If they had met under different circumstances, Zoro wanted to go up against this guy in a drinking competition.

Using those weird flash dials in guns? Genius.

He slowly concentrated as much as he could on Wadō's presence and the breath around him.

Zoro concentrated as much as he could.

He felt the air breathing.

"Sanjuroku Pound Ho!"

The air carried his slash through the clearing, tearing into the gunner that had been harassing him.

Zoro had trained for this! It was about time!

He now had a ranged attack.

Wait until that shitty cook found out. He'd be pissed.

He ran in a direction he had heard weird noises from and saw Chopper trying to do what appeared to be a cute cry.

It looked like he was happy about something.

Zoro grinned as he approached Chopper from behind.

He wanted to see how this, "mighty beast", would react to something sneaking up on it.

* * *

"The weather is...Cyclones!"

Nami swung her staff as hard as she could, sending part of it flying towards the two brothers in front of her. Ussop and Sanji laid at her feet.

These two weirdos showed up after Enel had left and started beating up the two unconscious Straw Hat's bodies.

They introduced themselves as Hotori and Kotori. They had also claimed that they had killed their brother, Satori.

Nami knew just who to blame for this. She would have words with Luffy next time she saw him.

If he's going to kill a weirdo, he better make sure he takes out the whole family.

* * *

Luffy and Robin walked around the ruins, Luffy singing his "Baka Song" while he followed Robin.

Something was amiss, but he didn't mind. He liked being with his family!

Robin was currently searching for any clues on where the City of Gold could be.

She never realized that she was actually forming eyes near every piece of writing in the area. She was too focused on finding the actual City and reading to even notice that she was using this method.

According to Nami, the city should be right here. She sat down, arms forming from her back and held her various papers as she observed them.

Luffy sat down nearby. He looked pretty bored, so she surprised tickled him.

How she had known he was there was a combination of eyes and haki.

His laughter helped her relax as she searched for more clues.

The area was weird. It didn't match any of th-

She stopped as she realized something.

If they were in clouds, and this section was propelled through the clouds...

Wouldn't that mean there might be more of the City hidden within the clouds?

Dispelling the arms she used to tickle Luffy, she turned towards him.

"Luffy? Would you mind helping me with something?"

She was glad he had come along. Looks like she would find this city faster than she could on her own.

* * *

Zoro slowly climbed to the top of the piece of island in the air. A giant beanstalk held this part up in the air. Chopper dismounted from his position on Zoro's back.

"Ah! What's that?!" He heard Chopper scream.

He turned and gasped in shock. A giant dog had snuck up on them!

"Relax, he's a trained dog. He doesn't bite people unless told to." Someone told them from an area above where they stood.

He looked up and saw a man sitting down on the edge of a building. He had some sort of sword with him.

Finally, something he could work with.

* * *

Nami was glad that Conis and Pagaya had showed up. They had helped her get the Going Merry safely away from Upper Yard.

They had brought some weird girl with them though. Her name was Aisa and apparently, she was a Shandian. An enemy of the Skypieans.

Aisa was crying. It seemed that she was capable of that "mantra" thing since birth. She said she could feel and hear people dying and fading away.

She had to admit, that Aisa had scared her when she starting freaking out about someone being tortured.

Aisa just had to add the fact that two sinister auras had done it. She said that she could sense a plethora of horrible feelings. Pleasure about inflicting pain, madness in both, and an unspeakable rage clung to the two figures.

They had terrified her more than even Enel.

'They sure don't look like enemies.' Nami thought as she watched Conis try to calm Aisa down.

Pagaya had repaired her waver and it was better than ever! She also learned that it had a very rare and extinct dial called the jet dial equipped to it.

Rare and exotic items were Nami's things! A silver lining in this whole mess.

Now only if the others could find the City of Gold.

* * *

Zoro tied his bandana on his head as he eyed his opponents. Chopper clung to his leg in fear.

A giant dog, a crazy psychopathic "savior", Gan Fall, and the man who attacked them when they had arrived. The psycho had called him, Wiper.

Gan Fall, he knew was an ally. The other three were enemies. There was no holding back here. Not with Chopper with him.

"Are you ready, Chopper?" He asked with as serious of a voice as he could muster. He needed Chopper to get a grip.

Chopper slowly looked up at him, his fear being replaced with determination as he looked into Zoro's eyes.

"Y-Yes, Zoro! I'll do my best!" Chopper said, though he knew he was in trouble.

He couldn't eat another Rumble Ball, leaving him to fight in his three basic forms.

"Good! You take that dog. I'll deal with the other two." Zoro unsheathed his blades.

Kitetsu was singing as it was unsheathed. Its bloodlust had not dropped at all since he had gotten it. Actually it had increased.

Yubashiri was always calm, Zoro had learned. Its breath was resolute.

Wadō had its serene aura about it. Its breath became one with his.

Looks like this fight was going to be more interesting than his last.

He charged towards the swordsman, intending on finishing him first. Zoro didn't like turning his back to an enemy, but he was tired of dealing with all of these ranged people.

Wiper had already launched a projectile at the psycho who had introduced himself as Ohm.

Ohm dodged the blast and formed a shield out of his sword, which Zoro ran into.

'Great. He's not a swordsman, he's a trickster.' Zoro angrily thought.

It seemed like he would never be able to fight anyone serious about swordsmanship!

A brief memory reminded him of the woman that stole Kuina's look.

She was the last actual swordsman he had seen.

Refocusing on the fight, he used Onigiri to try to slash through the wall, but the man had jumped back.

Zoro's foot had sunk into the ground a little and a little white string formed from a wall, shooting towards him.

He managed to dodge, but it had still scratch him.

Zoro couldn't stop murderous intent leaking from him.

The tricks were getting annoying! He was just going to kill these people for pissing him off!

* * *

Chopper stared at the dog in front of him, and it just stared back.

The dog had never spoken since he had seen it. It preferred to stay quiet.

"Um..." Chopper didn't know what to do. The dog just continued to stare blankly at him.

"Holy! Eat that tanuki!" Ohm shouted in the background as he fought Wiper, Zoro, and Gan Fall.

The dog named Holy, started to run towards Chopper with its mouth open.

Chopper changed into Walking Point and started running, screaming as he did so.

* * *

Zoro blocked another strike from Ohm.

It seemed that he intended to use his Cloud Sword like a whip.

He had already taken a few swings at Wiper. The guy just didn't believe him about how he and his family just wanted to get out of Upper Yard.

He raised Kitetsu and watched as the Cloud Sword was split in half, almost slicing him.

Zoro jumped back. Kitetsu's sharpness was getting in his way now.

Feeling an incoming source of heat, Zoro jumped backwards, avoiding a blast from Wiper's burn bazooka.

"Would you stop shooting at me?! I'm getting tired of that!" Zoro screamed. He was at his limit for this sort of thing.

"Fool! If you don't pay enough attention, you won't be able to-!"

"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!"

Zoro launched three air projectiles at Ohm, cutting him into pieces.

That surprised Wiper and Gan Fall. They all had some trouble defeating him and Zoro just cut through him like that?!

"I'm tired of this shit! It's been a while since I've even fought a real swordsman! How am I supposed to get better if all I fight is trash?!"

Zoro had a weird aura around him. As if he was going to cut them into pieces.

"Zoro!"

Nami suddenly appeared on a waver, a little girl clung to her leg.

The aura disappeared.

"Nami?! What are you doing here?!" Zoro looked back towards the other two fighters.

Seeing that they weren't going to fight him, he sheathed his blades.

"I'm here to- is that Chopper?!" Nami pointed behind him.

He turned to see Chopper running for his life. The dog was still chasing him.

"Hey! Stop that!" Zoro ran towards them, one hand on Kitetsu.

The dog suddenly stopped and looked at him.

'Oh you have to be joking...'

* * *

Luffy and Robin were now standing near an opening of a great tower. They were at the top floor.

With Luffy's help, they had dug beneath the island cloud and found that the City of Gold was actually beneath the cloud.

It was incredible. The entire area was huge!

"Awesome! Is this the City of Gold?!" Luffy was getting excited. They might be able to find that cool Golden Bell.

"I believe that it is, Luffy," She lowered herself with her ability. Luffy just jumped off.

They looked around on the lowest floor they could reach. Luffy following Robin.

Robin was amazed as well. There was a lot of ancient text that had been untouched for centuries!

She continued to read all the text in the area within a matter of seconds.

It was strange though. She led Luffy over to the beanstalk.

That was where the bell was supposed to be.

Looking around, she didn't notice anything else that could be of use.

According to what she had found so far, the bell had to be-

Her senses screamed at her. Something was coming!

She heard lightning strike and turned to see someone she didn't want to see for a while.

"It's nice seeing you again, Robin. Did you miss me?" Enel said in a teasing tone.

"Hey, Robin! Who's the freak with the silly ears?" Luffy pointed at Enel.

Enel looked a bit offended from the rude gesture.

"You worm. I am God!" Enel claimed while looking at Luffy smugly.

He had to teleport a few feet away as Luffy tried to tackle him.

Luffy's face was demonized as he stared at Enel, a growl emanating from his throat.

"Ah! You must be that monster I felt." Enel looked over to Robin, "Now you will see that I am almi-"

A fist slammed into his stomach, sending him flying into a wall.

"Luffy!" Robin cried out. Luffy looked over at her.

"Please don't destroy the walls!"

"Oh! Sorry, Robin." Luffy replied in his warped voice.

He looked back to Enel and burst out laughing.

Enel had the stupidest look he had ever seen on his face! It was priceless!

"What the-?! How did you-?!"

He couldn't finish his statement as Luffy had grabbed onto his face.

Luffy pulled him towards him and rammed his fist into Enel's face, smashing it into the ground.

He had put all of that "willpower" stuff into his fist. His hand turned black when he had hit Enel.

The two just stood there staring at the body of Enel.

A few minutes passed.

"Is...is that it?" Luffy was surprised. Did he just defeat God in three hits?

For once, Robin was at a loss for words.

"I...I assume he is."

As if to spite their insolence, Enel's body started sparking and he teleported a meter away.

"What are you?!" Enel screamed at Luffy, "How are you able to touch me?! Is it the same as that woman?!"

"I hit you because I wanted to hit you." Luffy raised his hand and clenched it, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

"You...you insolent pests!" Lighting started to generate from his body, striking various walls and the cloud ground.

He had to teleport yet again as black arms attempted to hold him to the ground.

After he had teleported, he noticed that Robin was still looking right at him.

Black hands erupted from his body, sending some blood and bone through the air. Enel gasped as he felt the arms move.

Two had burst through his chest.

The arms grabbed him by the throat and started to push.

Enel tried to shock them, but it seemed to be somewhat resistant to his attacks.

He raised a hand at Robin and shot a lightning bolt.

Before he had fired it, another black hand sprouted from his body and changed his aim so it would discharge against the ground.

In a desperate move, he threw his staff at Robin and she was forced to dodge.

The hands dispelled and Enel found that he could move again.

It was short lived as a roaring white monster tackled him to the ground, hands digging into his body.

Enel grunted as he tried to push the beast away from him, but he had accidentally put his hand on the creature's head.

The monstrosity bit down on the wrist, almost severing his hand from his arm.

Enel panicked and pulled a little gold out from his pocket.

"Gloam Paddling!" The gold gained a sharp point and he drove it into the creature's body.

It howled in pain, but still held Enel down.

Black hands then sprouted from not only his body but also on Luffy's.

The ones that came from him held him down.

Black fists began to hit his face from Luffy, arms forming and dispelling constantly.

He turned his eyes to look at the one he considered to be a monster as well.

Robin was laughing lightly as arms and legs constantly formed on and around her. What looked like cherry blossoms surrounded the area.

It seemed she didn't notice the many limbs that formed on her as well. Arms sprouted from her shoulders and back while it looked like she had 4 legs.

Enel teleported once more, but it seemed the monsters were able to follow him.

The sinister laugh coming from Robin and the horrifying roar from the white monster known as, Luffy were unnerving him.

His body reconstructed itself.

"Hey, Robin!" Luffy's warped voice called out.

Robin paused her little laughing.

"Yes, Luffy?" Her voice had taken on some sub-harmonics, making it sound like she spoke 3 or 4 different voices saying the same words.

"Something seems...off with you." Luffy stared at her with his abyss eyes. It was on the tip of his tongue.

Robin form eyes around the area to look at herself.

She really did look different. Her eyes' original color was brown, not blue. She didn't know there were arms on her back and that she had 4 legs. She even had a few more eyes on her head.

It was also noticeable that the black arms were easier to produce, and even her leg had some black tints to it.

"Shishishi! You kinda look like a spider!"

"Fufufufu...you think so?."

That strange feeling was the strongest it had ever been. She finally realized what it was.

It was the feeling of freedom. Of being able to do whatever she wanted.

Luffy brought that feeling out of her. It felt like she could do anything in the world.

Focusing more intently on it, she couldn't stop herself from laughing. It felt good.

Hurting Enel made her feel even better, she quickly located him. He had been ascending the beanstalk.

"Luffy? You know where he's headed?"

"Yeah! He's up there, right?" He pointed upwards towards the level above them.

"Yes...yes he is. How about we give chase?" She walked to the large structure in the center.

"Sure! Let's go make God pay!" His arms shot out and grabbed the walls of the building, preparing to do another rocket.

The arms on her back turned black, and so did her 4 feet. She began to climb the wall, able to move swiftly up the building.

She could get used to this, as she continued her climb, her extra limbs doing all the work.

Looks like she would have to tell Chopper his medicine was a success. She never thought that she her own devil would manifest.

* * *

The two demons climbed as fast as they could, one propelling one arm ahead as his other one stayed back, ready to shoot forwards and the other climbing with many limbs, forming new ones and dispelling the ones that had already served their purpose.

Robin felt something was off, aside from the new giddiness she felt. Enel wasn't one to run away, so why did h-

Her senses told her what was coming. There was no way they could both dodge this next one!

Looking towards Luffy, the memories of her time with him flashed through her mind.

Her life was his. In a way, he was responsible for her.

But also, she was responsible for him. He had showed her so much, so much that she thought she would never experience.

Forming a great mass of arms, she pushed Luffy away from the beanstalk. There was no time to think, nor time for words.

He looked at her strangely, as if he didn't understand why she had done that.

Robin smiled at Luffy.

She wanted to tell him so much, but it was too late.

"El Thor!"

Luffy could only stare in horror as Robin was consumed by a massive beam of light. Her figure could barely be seen through it all.

He launched himself towards her as she fell. In the distance, he could hear Enel laughing.

* * *

Zoro had tried to make room for himself on the waver. Nami and Aisa were in front of him and he held Chopper in his hands. Chopper had been hit by some debris and was knocked unconscious.

A giant lightning bolt had demolished the ruins they were on and now they were falling towards the ground.

Gan Fall and his bird Pierre, had been struck by the lighting. Wiper disappeared, Zoro didn't see him anywhere. He briefly wondered if they were okay, but he had more important things to worry about.

He could see 2 people on the ground. He recognized the straw hat one of them wore, but the other figure was charred.

The person held a hand to Luffy's face. It looked like a caress, but from the damage he saw, it could have been anything.

Luffy just held the person in his arms. Zoro would have to find out more answers about what was going on from his captain.

* * *

Luffy stared at Robin as she tried to speak, but it was very difficult after being fried by lightning.

She had her hand at his face, but he didn't understand why she was doing that. She needed to conserve her strength!

Her lips moved, and Luffy froze.

The world had gone silent after Robin had spoken.

Her eyes began to close, her hand struggled to stay up.

Luffy reached for her hand, but it had fallen.

Robin was still breathing, but he didn't know how long she would be able to.

He didn't want her to die! She was going to be fine! They just had to find Chopper!

"Yaahahahaha! Too bad. She would have been a great companion to Fairy Vearth."

Something Luffy had never felt before swelled up inside him.

That voice was unbearable! It needed to hurt! It needed to die!

The ground around him started to shake.

As gently as he could, he slowly laid Robin on the ground.

"Oh? Are you sad that I killed your little pet?"

A fist had impacted with the beanstalk Enel stood next to. He watched as Luffy stared up at him, his eyes glowing red.

"Yaahahaha! Such an insolent little rat. Let's see how strong you'll be alone!"

Luffy was about to rocket Enel, but he disappeared in a flash of light.

Staring at where Enel had been, Luffy felt numb.

Robin's breathing was getting slower. Luffy looked at her.

What was he supposed to do?!

How was he supposed to help Robin?! He couldn't heal her, and he couldn't just leave her here!

Hearing his name, Luffy looked up to see Zoro, Nami, Chopper, and a little girl falling towards him. They were riding in a waver, so they would be alright.

Even though he was still filled with rage, hate, and sadness, he felt a little hope.

Robin could get help from them. She might be able to make it!

Luffy rocketed towards where he felt Enel's presence.

The only thing he could do was destroy the man that had done this to her.

* * *

"Robin!" Nami cried as she got off the waver. Aisa, Zoro, and Chopper were also running over to the hurt woman.

Nami knelt next to her. The damage was unbelievable. Her body looked badly burnt, and smoke rose from it.

Surprisingly, her clothes, possessions, and her hair still remained. Robin must have been hit by the lightning strike.

"Zoro! Go get Chopper's bag! He might have something that could help!" Nami yelled at Zoro, who was just standing to the side.

On the outside, Zoro looked calm, but he was panicking inside. He didn't know what to do! Robin had helped them a lot in the past, and now she was dying right in front of him. It was agonizing.

Zoro opened Chopper's bag. He had a lot of medicines inside, but nothing looked like it would treat something a bit more than 3rd degree burns.

Something had caught his eye. Chopper had been working on it at the campsite. He had seen him give Luffy and Robin one of them.

Taking it, he ran over to where Robin was.

He smashed the medicine ball in his hand and poured the red dust into her mouth.

Hopefully, this would do something.

* * *

Robin was currently in a void of darkness.

Everything had gone black after she had spoken to Luffy. At least nothing hurt anymore.

She closed her eyes. The last time she saw Luffy, he looked like he had shed some tears.

It was touching. Robin never thought anyone would cry over her.

Feeling a breeze, she opened her eyes.

She was now standing in a field. Cherry blossom petals floated through the air. There must have been thousands of them as the entire sky was filled with them.

"Hello there." A strangely familiar voice called out, "I never expected to meet you this early."

She turned to see a woman sitting in a chair made of hands and legs. In front of her stood another chair.

The woman looked exactly like her, minus the blue eyes.

"Please, sit down." Robin was subjected to one of the smiles she usually gave.

"We have much to discuss, and not much time."

* * *

Luffy climbed the beanstalk as fast as he could, moving at a pace far faster than before.

Enel's presence was rising in the air. He would not escape from him!

His hands were already claws, and it was easier to use "Gum Gum Rocket" as his claws didn't need to find something to hold onto. They could just stab into the plant.

A sudden wave of emotion hit him and he tumbled, falling on one of the leaves the beanstalk had.

He tried to get up, but his body was heavy. It felt like something was weighing him down.

Memories flashed through his eyes.

He saw all the times he couldn't protect anyone, how certain people would use their power to oppress the helpless and innocent.

Robin's charred face was burned into his sight.

Her voice had been a whisper, barely able to be heard.

Luffy smashed his head into the leaf, trying to not remember. She didn't mean to, but her words tortured him.

She had thanked him for all that he had done for her. She was sorry that she wasn't strong enough.

Luffy raised his head and roared, no thoughts ran through his mind.

The very air shook from the force of his bellow.

He only had a target. One that was currently in front of him.

Looking at the beanstalk, Luffy grabbed it and jumped with all his strength.

Wrapping himself around the beanstalk, he looked at the flying boat that had rose from the forest.

After he had finished, he let the force carry him through the air, sending him flying towards where he had felt Enel.

* * *

Robin felt a bit uncomfortable as she saw her mimic spawn an arm on her shoulder and rest her head on its hand.

"You know, I wasn't expecting this to ever happen."

"Excuse me?" Robin asked.

"Oh! Forgive me. Introductions first. What shall you call me?" She put an index finger to her lips. The woman's voice sounded like she wasn't bothered at all. It was calm, just like hers was.

"I suppose you could call me Hana. Now, we have to discuss what your next move will be." Her hands moved down to rest on the armchairs made of hands.

"I'm sorry," Robin started, "but where are we and who are you?"

Hana kept staring at her with the smile on her face.

"Who I am should be obvious. We are currently in what you could call your subconscious."

"Getting blasted by lightning has caused you to enter...a situation where I'm forced to try to find the best way for us to survive."

"Self-preservation...you must be my devil." The weird woman didn't look anything like a devil though.

Was Luffy's just so different?

"Devil...that's what they call us now? Oh well. Luckily, it seems we're receiving some outside help."

As soon as Hana said that, the cherry blossom petals turned red, making the sky appear crimson.

Robin kept looking at Hana. Too many things were happening, and not enough was being explained.

An oppressive aura could be felt throughout the area. It felt familiar.

Hana sighed and she now wore a frown with her eyes closed.

"You really need to be more careful next time, but now there isn't much to worry about. Just be sure to not get into a situation like this again."

Robin's vision started to fade.

"Wait!" Robin yelled, "Will we meet again?! What do you mean by outside help?!"

Hana just looked at her, eyes half open as if she were bored.

"Hopefully, we will never meet again. Your mastery of the Hana Hana Fruit is far too insignificant at this time. I need you to remember, the Hana Hana Fruit allows you to grow your body."

A hand formed next to her and turned black. Robin never noticed that her actual arm actually turned black with the spawned limb. The hand cut Hana, and blood seeped from the wound.

Blossoms formed where the cut was, and after they had vanished, the cut was gone.

"I hope you understand what that means. Just keep that in mind when you return to reality, dear. As for the outside help..."

Hana looked like she was trying to keep herself from laughing.

"Just be glad they didn't give you too much. We would have died if you took any more."

The last thing Robin saw was Hana waving her goodbye.

* * *

Chopper held a hoof to his head. He felt lucky that Zoro had saved him from being crushed, but he could have helped him a bit sooner.

Taking a look around the area, he saw Robin's smoldering body.

"Robin!" He screamed as he ran towards her, taking his backpack off as he looked for any salves he could use.

"Chopper! It's good that you're awake! Is there anything you can do?!" Nami was panicking, she had seen Zoro pour something in Robin's mouth.

"I'm not sure, but she seems to be breathing!" Chopper looked at her a bit more closely. Her chest was rising a little, but not much. Her skin was blackened and what looked like ash fell off of her.

"I put something in her mouth. Do you think that would help?" Zoro was sweating a bit. After thinking about it, he was pretty sure he had given her the wrong thing.

"What did you use?!" Chopper was still rummaging around in his pack, trying to see if anything could help Robin at this point.

"That red candy ball."

"You gave her the red Rumble Ball?!" Chopper screamed as he shook Zoro back in forth in his Heavy Point.

"That was the wrong one! Luffy's blood was in that one!"

"Wait, you put their blood in those things?!"

"Yes! I mix it in with the medicine! Otherwise, the medicine doesn't interact with their body that well!"

Chopper started crying, but he couldn't give up on her now! He finally pulled out some salve that he had made for burns.

"What's Robin's blood type? Is Luffy's blood dangerous?"

"Zoro! Blood type doesn't matter too much if you eat it, but I don't know what would happen if Luffy's blood was to get in her body!"

Zoro paused for a second.

"So, Luffy being in Robin might be a problem?"

Nami hit him with her fist with the force of her feminine fury.

"Don't say that! It sounds weird!"

Chopper tried to not pay any attention to the beating Zoro was getting from Nami.

He wasn't sure if it would do well against this degree of damage, but it was better than letting Robin die of infections!

Robin's eyes shot open, pain could be seen clearly in her now blue orbs.

She took deep sharp breathes, pain was written all over her face.

"Robin! Don't move! I'm going to try to he-"

Half of Robin's face turned white, she lost her eye and the affected teeth turned sharp.

She roared, her voice had a warped tone causing the ones in the area to freak out and move back a little.

Her arms crossed her chest and rose blossoms formed all over her body, and when they disappeared, Robin's body was back to normal.

Chopper, Nami, and Zoro just looked at her with a mixture of fear and shock as she turned to face them.

Her face was still white, but it looked to have died down a bit.

"Oh my, that was sudden." She said with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Hey! You're not allowed to say that!"

* * *

Enel had just been sitting at his throne, using his mantra to sense Luffy coming towards his ship.

It looked like that woman was still alive. He could feel her presence even from here.

None of that mattered though. Soon, Skypiea would be destroyed and he would no longer have to worry about any of them.

Luffy crashed in front of him. He was hunched over as he glared at Enel.

"So, you've made it, monster? You will soon learn what God's wrath is like." Enel said as he grinned arrogantly at Luffy.

The grin disappeared as Luffy's fist hit him once again in the head, too fast to comprehend.

Enel teleported to the side of the ship before Luffy could connect with his other blows, his fists denting the gold that had been behind the throne.

'He was able to hit me?! Why could I not sense him?!' Luffy began to look over to where he was.

The murderous glint in his eyes giving away his intentions.

"Fine! Suffer, beast!"

He formed another El Thor and sent it towards Luffy, the beam of electricity going over the ship's edge.

Luffy stood there, unaffected by the blast of lightning.

Even Enel's ridiculous face didn't send Luffy into a laughing fit, his emotions too strong for him to lose focus.

'No matter. I have other means to deal with someone like you.' Enel thought as he made his staff into a spear.

Luffy was already flying towards Enel his arms stretched in preparation for a bazooka.

Blood flew through the air as Enel stabbed Luffy, the spear coming out his back.

It didn't stop Luffy as his hands slammed into Enel, forcing the air out of his lungs.

Trying to make the gold spear transform so it would destroy Luffy's insides, he found that he couldn't.

Being this close to Luffy made him feel frightened, his powers being nullified. Luffy seemed to overwhelm him with just his presence!

Luffy grabbed the spear, growling as he did so, and he picked Enel off the ground and sent him flying back to his throne.

He ripped the spear out of his body, and without a thought, let it fall off the ship.

Enel's vision blurred as he tried to see Luffy clearly.

Luffy had started to twist his arm, about to drill into his body with a "Gum Gum Rifle".

"Gloam Paddling!"

Gold shot out from behind his throne, wrapping around Luffy's arm as it came towards him.

Luffy screamed in pain as his arm was burnt by the melting gold and it formed into a giant golden ball.

Enel had dodged Luffy's strike and had gone through the gold, making another spear of gold.

He stabbed Luffy with this one, but Luffy had grabbed onto his face.

Enel stared into Luffy's eyes in fear as he was pulled out from the gold, he tried to make Luffy let go by stabbing him, but Luffy wouldn't let go.

Roaring, Luffy swung Enel into the ship's deck, causing it to shatter and splinter.

* * *

Zoro, Nami, Chopper, Robin, Aisa, and Wiper were standing on a leaf located on the beanstalk.

The Straw Hats had decided to climb the beanstalk, to find Luffy when they had met Aisa and Wiper. They were all sitting except Wiper and Chopper. Chopper was being held in Robin's lap.

Wiper had fought Enel before he had boarded his ship. His seastone skates were destroyed. Wiper told them of how he had used his Reject Dial on Enel and killed him. Enel had just restarted his heart and hit Wiper with an El Thor.

"Oh? So that's what that was?"

"What?" Wiper looked over at Robin who still had a blank look on her face. The white had disappeared.

"Luffy and I had fought Enel. Luffy hit Enel a few times and his body sparked. That must have been him restarting his heart."

The group just looked at Robin with disbelief.

"What? Luffy was able to kill God? How was he able to do that?" Zoro asked. He had a feeling he knew how.

"Oh!" Nami exclaimed, "Luffy's made of rubber! He might be able to actually hit Enel!"

"That sounds right! So cool! Luffy is Enel's natural enemy!" Chopper said aloud. Luffy was just getting cooler all the time.

They missed the hurt expression Robin had taken.

'He would have been fine? I wasn't actually able to save him?' She thought. Instead of saving Luffy, she had only hurt him further.

The devastated look Luffy had given her told her of his pain.

She only brooded some more as she clung to Chopper a bit tighter, ignoring his uncomfortable squeal.

"Hey, you think Luffy and Enel are over there?" Zoro pointed behind them all.

They all looked to see a gigantic ship with lighting shooting out of it, causing devastation across Skypiea.

"That does look like somewhere Luffy would be." Robin commented.

"Jeez, he always has to pick the most dangerous places." Nami sighed.

"Why?" They all listened to Wiper as he caught their attention.

"Why are you all fighting? What is your purpose for being here?! This isn't your problem!" Wiper started to yell.

"Why? Because of the Golden City!" Nami enthused, her eyes becoming belli signs.

"And because Luffy wanted to help that Cricket guy out." She continued with a small smile.

Luffy might have been selfish, childish, and immature, but he had a good heart. He wanted to help people he considered his friends.

"Why does that shitty brat try so hard though? The only thing I saw in him was rage."

"That's cause you attacked us, idiot." Zoro said as he watched the lightning strikes fly towards Upper Yard and Angel Island.

"He made a friend in the Blue Seas." Robin said, looking closely at Wiper. His words might have been harsh, but his face was one of bewilderment.

"That man's ancestor had found this island and he had told many tales about it, but he was labeled a liar and his family paid for it. His descendant, Luffy's friend, has risked his own life to prove that his ancestor was right, that there is an island in the sky."

She smiled at Wiper as she noticed him paying attention to her words.

"He told us," She waved towards Chopper and Zoro, "that he wanted to ring that Golden Bell his friend told him about. To prove that his friend was right, so he would no longer sacrifice his own life. That's why he tries so hard."

"Isn't that romantic? Luffy's throwing his life away just so his friend wouldn't have to suffer anymore."

Silence reigned for a few minutes.

"His friend...what is his name?" Wiper asked, as he turned to look at Robin.

"Montblanc Cricket."

"Then...would that ancestor be Norland?"

* * *

Luffy looked closely at Enel.

His face had been turned into a bloody mess, it was barely recognizable as Luffy had smashed it repeatedly against the floor. He never thought why he hadn't turned into lightning, but it didn't matter.

He threw Enel to the side. God was not something he cared so much about.

Looking around, he saw that the ship had ascended during Enel's massacre.

Something shined and caught his attention. It was a golden bell.

He remembered Cricket's condition and how he would die if he kept diving.

Luffy's form tensed up.

He started walking towards the bell.

There was no need for anymore death. He wouldn't allow another of his friends to die.

Tears dripped down from his face as his transformation receded. He regained control of his emotions and mind.

The ball of gold wrapped around his arm dragged across the wooden deck as he slowly took steps toward the side of the bell.

A sparking sound could be heard behind him.

"Y-You fool...I...I am God!" Enel had restarted his heart and was in the process of healing his injuries.

He seemed to have trouble. The fear Luffy had put in him restricted his powers.

"You cannot bes-"

The golden ball smashed Enel further into the deck, making only his head visible.

As it moved away, he attempted to teleport.

He didn't make much distance as Luffy had caught him in the air, his hand shined black.

Enel tried to resist, but Luffy's grip tightened around his head.

The pain was unbearable as Enel continued to flail.

He looked at Luffy's face once again, but wished he hadn't.

Luffy had re-transformed, his abyssal eyes staring into his Enel's.

Foam formed from Enel's mouth as his mind almost shut down.

Exactly as Luffy wanted. He could still see that Enel had maintained consciousness.

He wanted him to feel this, as his arm coiled backwards, the golden ball moving away from the ship.

Enel tried to push Luffy away, but his strength had faded and could only weakly grasp at the hand that held his head.

"B-B-But...I am...God..." Blood spilled from his mouth as he could barely form words.

"You are nothing." The warped voice responded.

Luffy watched Enel fly away from him towards the bell.

A pity, Luffy thought. He hadn't screamed for mercy.

* * *

The bell rang out, it's beautiful tune traveled for miles.

The group on Upper Yard just stood in wonder. The bell had sounded beautiful, even after 400 years.

A figure could be seen falling towards them, it fell next to the group.

Luffy stood in the little crater he had made in the ground. He thought he sensed a few presences here. A golden ball was imbedded near him.

He looked at them, but they all noticed as tears started to fall from his eyes.

"Hey, Luffy? Are you alright?" Zoro started walking towards him. He'd seen his captain cry out of minor pains and of happiness, but not to this degree.

Luffy shot forwards, lifting Robin into the air.

"Luffy?!" She struggled in his grip. Everyone else just stared at the two.

"You idiot!" Luffy's voice was distorted by his tears, "Don't ever do that again! You hear me?!"

"Never again!" He swung her through the air.

He stopped and let her stand on the ground.

The other Straw Hats smiled.

Even though Luffy was crying, his grin had been turned up to the max.

Robin could feel the tears on her shoulder, but she could tell he was relieved.

"I'll try not to, Luffy."

* * *

**There goes the Skypiea arc! Next up, Davy Back Fight! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! **


	14. More Questions than Answers

**Hello everyone! Here's the Davy Back Fight! ****Hope you enjoy!**

**You might notice I didn't really focus on the fights. Sorry everyone, but I'm not so cruel as to only write a chapter about the Foxy Pirates. Aokoji makes an entrance. **

**An update, Luffy fell from the bell with the golden ball still attached to his arm. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

After the reunion, the Straw Hats stood by as they watched Chopper treat the many raiders that came to take their homeland back.

Wiper had apologized to Luffy, something that had shocked Aisa. He had misunderstood their intentions and thanked them for getting rid of Enel.

"Shishishi! Don't worry about it! I had my own reasons to do that anyway!" Luffy grinned at Wiper, who had bowed his head. Wiper looked up to see that his apology had been accepted and smiled.

Chopper was currently looking over the man named Braham, who Zoro kept bugging. It seems that Zoro wanted to challenge him to a drinking contest, and Braham had agreed in a good mood.

Nami had sat down with a woman named Laki and was busy trying to not remember how many times she almost died in Skypiea.

Sanji and Ussop were still missing. The last time Nami had seen them was on the Going Merry which was outside of Upper Yard.

Robin found a place away from everyone and just sat down. She had been exhausted, but she was still smiling. Even if she had questions about certain things, there was always one thing she could count on.

She now had a home of sorts. Wishing it would last forever, she looked over to Luffy, who had sat down next to Chopper as he was fixing Braham up.

"Hey, Chopper? Could you fix these holes in my body? I don't want my food to leak out when I eat."

"What the-?! How did you get these?! I should be looking over you right now!" Chopper panicked, Luffy looked to be the most hurt again.

* * *

After getting everything together, the Straw Hats arrived back at the Going Merry. Sanji and Ussop were strangely missing.

"Hopefully, they weren't slaughtered and devoured while they slept." Robin said aloud.

"Ugh...Robin...please don't say that..." Nami groaned. She had left Conis with them, but now everyone was gone. Nami would've felt guilty getting those two hurt.

"Nami-swan! Robin-chan! My angels! I missed you!"

Maybe she wouldn't feel so guilty.

Conis was riding that strange looking waver that her father had. Sanji and Ussop were with her.

"Hey! You two! Where were you?!" Luffy called out, waving his arms in the air.

"We were evacuating the villages, but it's good that nothing too terrible happened!" Ussop looked like he had been burnt a few times.

The Upper Yard group discovered that Enel's lightning strikes had caused a lot of damage in Skypiea, but his ship had been taken down before anything major had been done.

* * *

The Going Merry was alright, and it looked like everything was alright. They had stayed for many days.

The Straw Hats had thrown one last party.

It was now the break of dawn.

"Pst! Nami." Luffy whispered as softly as he could.

"Huh? What is it?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Let's steal us some gold!" He said, making an effort to keep his voice down.

"Gold?!"

"Shut up! Don't start yelling!"

"What?!" Nami grabbed and pulled at Luffy's face, "You're the one yelling at me!"

Everyone around them started to wake up, so they started to run, Luffy dragging Zoro across the ground.

"Ow! Stop it, Luffy! Stop dragging me!" Zoro shouted angrily as the rocks and twigs dug into his body.

"Stop it!"

* * *

Luffy and Nami arrived at the Golden Bell. It had fallen from the sky and it was now on Upper Yard's ground floor.

Zoro looked bad. Some of his wounds had reopened and he lied on his side.

"Zoro! Get to work." Luffy threw Zoro at the object in front of them.

His body impacted with the metal.

"You idiot! Don't do that ever again!" Zoro got up and smacked Luffy with one of his sheaths.

"Zoro! Please, help us!" Nami begged with her hands in front of her.

Zoro looked at her with an eyebrow raised, but turned to see what they wanted from him.

A massive golden ball stood in front of him.

"What the hell?! What do you want me to do about this?!"

"Cut it into pieces so we can take some with us!" Luffy said.

"What?! No! Lift the whole thing and bring it with us!"

"We can't take the whole thing! Our ship would sink!" Luffy argued.

"Of course we can! We can have Zoro and Sanji swim underneath, keeping us afloat!"

"Hey! Don't I have a say in th-"

"No! You're the swordsman! You're supposed to stand there and look scary!" Nami exclaimed.

If Zoro and Luffy were to gang up on her, she would have to relent.

She looked over at Zoro.

He stood there and looked scary.

It freaked her out so she hit him.

"You witch! What was that for?!"

Sadly, Nami was not able to convince the two, so Zoro cut off a huge section of gold for them. He told them that he would cut it into smaller pieces later and he started taking it back to the ship.

* * *

Before Luffy and Nami left, they saw Robin looking at some words imprinted on the side of the Golden Bell.

"Hey, Robin! What are you doing here?" Luffy asked as they headed towards her.

"Hello, Luffy. Navigator-chan. I'm just looking at the ancient text on the bell."

"Really? What does it say?" Nami was curious. She had seen some of the writings before down in the city.

"...It's nothing important. Just about a weapon named Poseidon."

"Oh? What's that say?" Luffy pointed towards some more writing to the side of the massive wall of text.

"That's from the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."

"Gol D. Roger? I thought his name was Gol-"

"The Pirate King was here?! So cool!" Luffy interrupted Nami and ran towards the text.

Nami looked pissed, but couldn't stay mad. Luffy was too excited as he just kept staring at it.

"He's very energetic, don't you agree?" She looked over to see Robin smiling at Luffy as he tried to decipher the words.

"Yeah, he is. Too much sometimes..." Nami sighed and smiled. It was just like her captain to get excited over some text the late Pirate King wrote.

Nami eventually pulled Luffy away, and Robin followed them.

Looks like she would be able to follow Luffy until the end of his journey. What she sought was currently in Raftel.

* * *

"Everyone! Be careful! You're going to be falling soon!" Conis cried out from the piece of Island Cloud near the edge of the White-White Sea.

"Did she just say fall?" Ussop asked while they exited the gate.

The Going Merry ran off the edge of the White-White sea. The only thing below them was air.

All of the Straw Hats, except Robin who held herself and the others down with hands, reached out towards Conis and her father.

Conis and Pagaya waved as they began to descend.

Conis wiped some tears away. She would really miss Sanji.

Sanji could only think of the major betrayal he had been subjected to.

After falling a few meters a giant octopus came out and grabbed onto the ship.

The fighters started to prepare to guard their ship, but they noticed the octopus was helping them down.

The sound of the Golden Bell could be heard ringing.

The Straw Hats sighed in relief and listened to the beautiful noise.

Skypiea might have been scary, but they were all glad that they had taken that adventure.

* * *

After they had landed, they had decided to distribute the loot. They all met in the kitchen and Sanji handed out snacks.

"80% of this is mine ~" Nami pushed the cut up chunks of pillar to the side.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

"I'm just kidding! Anyway, we can't distribute the gold yet. We need to use the money to repair the Going Merry."

"You're right!" Ussop agreed, "The Going Merry hasn't received any major repairs ever since we got it!"

"Alright! I've decided!" Luffy put his hands on the table, "Our next crew mate should be a shipwright! The Going Merry is our ship, thus it's our lifeline! We should take care of it!"

The whole crew, except Robin, stared in shock at Luffy.

"Did...did he just say something intelligent?" Sanji asked as he tried not to spill anything.

"Alright! It's decided!" Everyone shouted, eventually.

"Let's repair the Going Merry!"

* * *

Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin heard a pistol shot ring through the air.

They all started to sweat, did their captain accept the Davy Back Fight?

The Straw Hats had docked at the nearest island. Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper had decided to explore it.

They were on the Going Merry. It was surrounded by a much larger ship named the Sexy Foxy.

The pirates had mocked them and told them that they would be subjected to the Davy Back Fight. A game in which you could lose your crew members.

With heavy hearts, they hoped that their captain had some self-control.

* * *

Luffy stood with a pistol in his hand.

Foxy, Porche, and Hamburg laid before him. Foxy was holding the hand Luffy had the pistol in.

Luffy had beaten them up for shooting Shelly, the hooooorse of a man named Tonjit.

Tonjit had been part of a nomadic tribe that moved about the islands that the Straw Hats were currently docked at. The islands were actually part of a giant island. Tonjit was an idiot, so he had been separated from his tribe and Shelly had stayed behind for Tonjit. They had just been reunited and these pirates had shot Shelly.

Chopper had tried to treat Shelly the best he could, but Shelly had been shot in the side. Blood was everywhere as Chopper did his best to repair the wound.

Foxy had used some sort of Noro Noro beam on Luffy and Ussop.

Luffy, who was already demonized, had beaten them up. The Noro Noro beam had not worked as well on him.

Ussop could only watch as Foxy put a gun in Luffy's hand and fired it in the air.

'Damn it.'

* * *

The Foxy Pirates had already set up many stands. The Davy Back Fight was about to begin!

The Donut Race had been the first event. All the Straw Hats participated.

Many of the Foxy Pirates had thrown stuff at them during the event, but an enraged Sanji and a frustrated Luffy had stopped them from doing any terrible damage.

That is, until Foxy decided to show his abilities.

"Noro Noro Beam!"

He had gotten all of the Straw Hats. Robin had her arms across her chest, Luffy had his fist cocked back, and Ussop had started to pull his slingshot back.

Foxy and his team had crossed the finish line.

Arms had formed on Foxy and started to break him. Luffy's fist hit him in the crotch, and Ussop's lead star broke one of his teeth.

His crew started crying for their boss. The Straw Hats felt he had deserved more.

* * *

"But I only went out to sea for Luffy! I don't accept this at all! At all!" Chopper whined as a mask was forced on his face and sat down in a chair.

"You lost the game, so this is what happens!" Foxy said as he stood by laughing at his fortune.

"Shut up! Luffy's the only reason I-"

"Chopper! Calm down!" Zoro yelled.

"You went out to sea because you wanted to! Luffy didn't force you or anything, so stop this! It's disgraceful!" Chopper stared at Zoro as he yelled at him.

He saw the look in Zoro's eyes. The determination to win and fear that he would lose were emotions he could see.

"Hey!" Nami hit Zoro on the head, "Don't be so mean to Chopper! It's not his fault he's in this game!"

"I got it, Zoro! I'll accept this much, but you all better win me back!" Chopper screamed as he crossed his arms, a look of anger on his face.

"Don't worry!" Zoro continued without noticing Nami, "That's what we plan to do."

He looked at Luffy, he didn't look too happy.

Luffy had already transformed. His ever present snarl on his face.

"They'll pay, Zoro."

"Yes." He closed his eyes and grinned. Luffy was practically exuding rage.

"They will."

* * *

Zoro and Sanji stood in a field. On the other side stood the three Groggy Monsters.

"Why do I have to wear this shitty thing?" Sanji asked Zoro as he wore the ballman's helmet.

"I think it suits you pretty well." He commented, ignoring Sanji's angry cries.

"Sanji-kun! That ball looks great on you!" Nami called out from the sidelines.

"I'LL BE THE BALLMAN! IT SUITS ME BEST AFTER ALL!"

Zoro just looked at Sanji.

"See? I was right. It suits you. You look like a prince." He glanced at Sanji, making sure his guard was up.

"The prince of Retardia."

Sanji's furious kicks impacted against Zoro's arms. He was unable to use his swords for this round.

* * *

The match had begun. The Groggy Monsters took out the blades they hid in their pants.

"Hey! They're using weapons!" Luffy whined to the referee.

The referee just turned around and started whistling.

"Kick their asses, you guys!"

Luffy continued to watch the game, the referee's head was smashed into the ground. The Foxy Pirates just looked at him in fear.

* * *

The Foxy Pirates stared in more shock as they witnessed the end of the Groggy Monsters.

Sanji and Zoro actually acted mature, because there was more than just Chopper on the line.

Their prides were at stake. They didn't want to be the ones responsible for losing to these cheating bastards.

Sanji had kicked Hamburg out of the ring almost immediately.

Zoro had used the thing called Pickles to cut up the biggest monster, Big Pan.

Big Pan started to fall, but Sanji had used an "Anti-Manner Kick Course", breaking Big Pan's spine, but making him stand upright.

Zoro had grabbed onto Big Pan's teeth, slamming him into the ring on the other side.

The Straw Hats cheered! They finally won once!

"Okay, Straw hat, who do you pick?" Foxy asked Luffy.

"I pick Shelly. You bastards took her from Tonjit."

Chopper looked betrayed as Luffy made his choice, but he saw Luffy looking at him.

"Trust in me, Chopper."

Chopper had to hold his emotions in. He just had to trust Luffy.

* * *

"You can't have any." Luffy informed Nami as he moved his kiwi fruit away from her.

"I don't want any!" She and Robin had to dress up in suitable clothing for the next event.

It was a Roller Race. Everyone eagerly anticipated this last event.

* * *

The Straw Hats looked at Luffy with blank faces. He was to participate in the first event.

He struggled to stay up, slipping down onto his face a few times.

Chopper almost cried. It was heartbreaking.

"Alright! I think I got it!" He was hunched over, with one hand on the ground.

The round started. Luffy had pushed with all of his might! He was going to get through this with sheer brute force!

Porche had already gotten a large headstart.

"Porche takes the lead! Where is Straw hat?"

Luffy was seen near the starting line, a huge crater had formed where his head had hit the track.

"Alright! Let the defenders loose!"

Mashikaku, a gigantic man had tried to land on Luffy, but he had used a "Gum Gum Balloon" to bounce him off.

"That's it! I know what we can do!" Nami exclaimed.

"Robin! Use your arms to push him all the way to the finish line!"

"Okay." Forming a "Cien Fleur: Delphinium" she started to roll Luffy.

Porche was surprised as Luffy move right past her, winning the first round.

Things had gone much smoothly more smoothly with Robin being able to predict the intentions of the opponents. They didn't even need to go through the 3rd round.

* * *

They had won Chopper back! They didn't need to do anything any-

A pistol shot rang through the air!

"Alright! You guys better not cheat anymore!" Luffy shouted as he held a pistol in the air.

"Are you stupid?! Why did you accept to another game?!" Nami and Ussop shook Luffy. Robin just giggled and Zoro sighed. Sanji had hearts coming from his eye.

Maybe Luffy would choose a lovely lady to join them?

* * *

The first round in the second set was dodgeball!

The Straw Hats had lost, though. Luffy was the last one in, but he had caught the ball with his teeth, causing it to pop and fall on the ground.

The Foxy Pirates chose Robin to join them. She had shown some amazing abilities.

"No! Robin!" Chopper, Nami, and Ussop cried out. She was their favorite person!

"It'll be alright, everyone." She smiled back at their crying faces.

She had faith in Luffy.

* * *

The next round had been a game of Greenlight-Redlight.

The game had ended in a draw. Zoro had thrown Big Pan accidentally at Tonjit, who had volunteered to be the spotter, but Luffy had rocketed them both out of bounds.

* * *

It was getting late in the day. It was a little after 4:00 pm.

"Listen up, Straw hat! How about we make a wager for this next round?"

"What is it, Split-Head?" Luffy looked over at Foxy who was now sinking into the ground.

"You bastard...how dare you? Grr! This next round, how about we bet 500 people!" Foxy proclaimed as he regained his confidence.

"Ah? Alright." Luffy wasn't too worried. This was the round he had been waiting for.

* * *

The Combat Round was starting. Ussop had dressed Luffy up for the occasion.

Luffy came out with a huge afro and boxing gloves. His skin was white and he performed a warped roar for the crowd, exciting them further.

Foxy took a few steps back after he had seen Luffy's appearance. He wasn't sure if he could fight him now.

* * *

"Doctor-kun?" Robin asked the little reindeer who had decided to sit next to her for the match.

"Would you happen to have another Rumble Ball I could use?"

"A Rumble Ball? Let me see if I made anymore...ah! Zoro gave you Luffy's Rumble Ball! Are you alright? Have you felt anything weird?"

Robin giggled as Chopper felt her head with a roof and took out a stethoscope to check her heart rate. He had gasped a little after checking.

"Robin! Your heart rate is increased! Do you feel anything wrong?!"

"I'm fine, Doctor-kun. I didn't know I was given Luffy's Rumble Ball." Robin answered.

That was a question she had to ask a certain someone.

"Here you go, Robin. It looks like I still had one from the campsite. I'll make some more later."

He handed her a purple pill which she promptly ate.

"Thank you, Doctor-kun. Please, enjoy the match." She held Chopper closer in her arms as she closed her eyes.

Robin didn't know if this would work, but she sure hoped it would.

Maybe if she willed it to happen, it would?

Opening her eyes, she found herself back in the strange land with cherry blossoms floating through the air.

"Oh my, it's you again." Her exasperated voice called to her.

* * *

She looked over to see Hana standing up. She looked a little disturbed and frazzled. She appeared to have been in a fight.

"How did you get here? Never mind, I suppose it doesn't matter." Hana didn't look to happy to see her.

"I just wanted to ask a few question, if you don't-." Robin tried to explain, but found herself lifted into the air by her throat, arms had formed to suspend her in the air.

"I'm sorry, but what makes you think I owe you any answers?" Hana walked forwards, a small smile on her face.

She seemed to take pleasure in causing pain.

"Because..." Robin struggled to speak, "from what I remember, you're a part of me...-"

"You're right, I am a part of you." Hana let Robin drop to the ground, gasping for air.

"That doesn't mean I have to answer to you though." She had a contemplative look on her face.

"I'll answer three questions, but no more."

"Thank you..." Robin picked herself up to look at her mimic.

Hana had a bite mark on her arm. After what Robin had witnessed last time, she should have been able to heal it.

"Why are you hurt?" She wanted to ask why she hadn't healed herself, but she only had three questions.

"I'm hurt because of the essence of your friend was hard to absorb. You shouldn't have taught him that willpower trick."

The bite mark didn't bleed, but it looked like it was slowly healing.

"I'm thankful though. Now we have a part of his power." Hana gave her another mysterious smile.

"A part of his power? How is that possible? I thought the Hana Hana Fruit only allowed me to sprout my body parts?"

"I'll count that as one question." Hana had frowned. She formed two chairs for them to sit in.

Robin had sat down. It wasn't good to get on the bad side of her devil.

"You think too narrowly about the Hana Hana Fruit. Questions such as, "why are we able to heal ourselves?" or thinking that the Hana Hana Fruit only allowed you to bloom body parts are ignorant."

"You are only limited by your will, Robin-chan. The Hana Hana Fruit isn't just able to sprout just limbs." Hana said cryptically. Robin still didn't understand everything, but it seemed there was more to her Devil Fruit than she had first thought.

"One more question. It looks like your friend is having a bit of trouble outside."

"Luffy's in trouble? That Noro Noro Fruit did seem annoying."

"It is. Hopefully, we will never experience it again."

Robin closed her eyes. She had many more questions, but decided to ask the one she felt was more important.

"Why am I able to speak to you?"

"Think about how I feel. I never expected to meet you during your life." Hana put her head in one hand.

She sighed.

"Think of it this way. You're able to speak to me because of your...Devil Fruit type. Paramecia. Ever wonder how they classified certain fruits? It's due to the devil housed within."

"Zoans are a bit different. That reindeer thinks that his devil hasn't manifested, but he's wrong. Zoans are constantly in a state of manifestation. His devil has combined with his body and his "Rumble Balls" allow him to distort the wavelength between them, which is why the drug affects him immediately."

Hana seemed very bored. She didn't want to explain anything to Robin, but she had said she would answer three questions.

"Logias lack a devil."

"What? How is that-"

"Don't interrupt." Hana glared at Robin.

Hana seemed much different than Robin. She was more aggressive and rude.

"As I was saying, Logias are different because they are a force of nature. Instead of manifesting, they become one with their element. That, "Fire Fist Ace" you saw actually did this. He became fire, and by doing so, is able to have absolute control of it."

"Now, Paramecias are a easier to explain. You eat the Devil Fruit, you gain the powers, but the Devil Fruit bonds with its eater and forms a link. I am that link. I have complete knowledge of what the Hana Hana Fruit is able to do, but your willpower determines how much power you can use."

"Yesterday, you would have died if not for your friend's essence entering us. I absorbed it, and we gained some of his willpower. Just some of it was enough to allow you to form your entire body!"

She licked her lips.

"I think we should eat him. That's the fastest way to get stronger."

Robin cringed.

"I don't think he would like that very much."

"Listen, I don't really care what the rubberman thinks. I want you to get stronger." Hana had somehow moved very close to her face.

"As you are now, your will is too weak. You have to be resolute if you want to get stronger!"

Robin stared as calmly as she could at Hana.

"I want to ask another question."

"Go ahead. It won't make much of a difference."

"Why didn't the drug affect Luffy?"

"It didn't affect him because he has already merged with his devil. He has almost complete mastery over the Gum Gum Fruit."

"And that is why I'm able to talk to you? Because I have not mastered the Hana Hana Fruit?"

Hana moved back and Robin's vision began to blur.

"That is partially correct, but I forgot to mention one thing about Paramecias."

Robin struggled to stay in the world of cherry blossoms.

"Paramecia type devils are symbiotic. You give us what you want, and we give you more power."

"What do you want?" Robin couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

"I want to be free." Her words had followed her into reality.

* * *

Looking around, she noticed that Chopper had jumped from her lap and was now standing next to her seat, cheering Luffy's name.

She looked at the ship and saw a heavily damaged Luffy and an even more damaged Foxy.

Luffy had transformed, but he wasn't destroying Foxy. He still had his normal eyes and face.

Foxy looked to be on his last legs, but he wasn't moving.

"Gum Gum..." Luffy spun his arm in circles above him.

"...Flail!" His fist shot forward with the momentum created from his spinning and it hit Foxy with enough force to make the air behind him flow backwards.

Luffy started to walk away, his head down as Foxy's face caved in.

Suddenly, Foxy went flying into the air. Luffy stood on the fox figurehead and roared while doing a victory pose.

He had won the fight! Everyone had cheered for such a great match!

Luffy looked at Robin and smiled. She smiled back.

Her faith had been returned. At least she wouldn't have to follow Foxy around.

* * *

Luffy had set the Foxy Pirates away with their new flag. He said that he wanted to do it himself and had given them the worst looking flag anyone had ever seen.

The Foxy Pirates cursed Luffy's name as they sailed away.

The Straw Hats had gone back to Tonjit's house. He wanted to throw a little party for their victory.

He ran into a person as he tried to enter his house.

"Hm?" The tall man stirred from his sleep. He slowly rose the sleeping mask on his face.

The Straw Hats heard something dropping on the ground and turned to see that Robin had fallen on the ground.

She could only make frightened gasps.

"Robin?" Luffy moved towards her with his hand out to help her up.

Zoro's hand went for Wadō.

"What's wrong, Robin?!" Sanji rushed forward to help her up too.

"Oh my, oh my...you've sure grown up into a fine woman, Nico Robin!" The man said as he smiled at the Straw Hats.

Luffy stopped and glared at the man.

"Robin! Do you know this guy?!"

The man looked around and saw the Straw Hats take aggressive stances.

"Hey now, kids like you shouldn't be getting all antsy." He put a hand to the back of his head.

"It's not like I was ordered to come here."

"Ordered?! Who do you work for?!" Zoro had drawn his swords.

"The marines." Robin had regained some of her composure.

"His name is Aokoji. He's an admiral in the marines."

* * *

All of the Straw Hats looked in shock at Robin, except Luffy and Zoro. They just continued to glare at Aokoji,

Luffy's skin had turned white, his breathing sounded ragged and warped grunts could be heard from him.

Aokoji looked at Luffy, he seemed a little surprised.

"Oh my, I didn't expect you to be that advanced, Straw Hat."

"Just calm down, everyone. No need for all of these hostilities." Aokoji held his hands out, trying to disarm the situation.

"I just came to see who Nico Robin was with and to calculate the new bounty. That's 160 million plus 79 million and that makes..."

Aokoji sat down.

"...It's roughly the same amount. It's a big number..." He proceeded to lay his head down on the ground.

"Hey, Robin?" Ussop had gotten close to Robin's ear, "Are you sure he's an admiral?"

"He is. Don't be fooled, he's really dangerous." Robin had strangely regained all of her composure.

She stared at Aokoji with defiant blue eyes.

Aokoji actually started to close his eyes, but he felt a powerful pressure and opened his eyes.

Sanji and Zoro were holding Luffy back. Luffy's mouth was open and he roared at Aokoji.

"I won't let you take Robin! I'll kill you!" Aokoji stared into Luffy's eyes and recognized the familiar sensation.

"Oh? You're a pretty interesting guy, Monkey D. Luffy. I actually met your grandfather a while back."

"Grandfather?! What are you talking about?! You better not try to take Robin away!" Luffy continued his fearsome glare at Aokoji.

Aokoji actually had an even more surprised face.

"What? You don't remember?..." He looked to the ground, as if he was trying to find an answer.

He stopped and seemed to realize something. He looked up at Luffy.

"I see...that's some interesting news to give." Aokoji started to stand up.

"Just get out of here! Go on! Nobody wants you here!" Luffy shouted as he pointed at Aokoji.

"Hey now...there's no need to be so rude..."

"Why does it feel like Luffy's winning?" Nami muttered to herself.

* * *

Aokoji actually offered to help Tonjit, who accepted. Luffy had tried to intervene, but was reminded that he was the pirate and Aokoji was the marine.

He showed them all his "Ice Age" ability which froze the ocean and a seaking that had appeared.

The Straw Hats, minus Robin, had been impressed.

Aokoji looked a little troubled.

He sighed as he watched the Straw Hats approach him.

"Hey! You're a nice guy after all!" Luffy grinned at him.

Aokoji just looked at him for a second and then turned to Robin.

"How should I put this..." He rubbed the back of his head again. He seemed to be in deep thought.

"What? Put what?" Ussop asked. He had a bad feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

"I think you should all just die here." Aokoji told them while he still rubbed his head.

That had an immediate effect on the Straw Hats.

Luffy had hunched over, his growls getting more rapid.

Robin had put her arms across her chest.

Zoro redrew his blades.

Sanji had taken a runner's position, ready to rush forward and attack.

Chopper, Ussop, and Nami were afraid as they also got into their battle positions.

"I thought you said you weren't here for that." Luffy growled.

"Initially, I wasn't but after seeing your group up close, I must say, your growth is astounding."

"From the time you first earned your bounties to now, is impressive." Aokoji got up.

"Your group is now even more dangerous with the addition of Nico Robin."

"I knew it! You're not taking Robin away!" Luffy roared as his hands sunk into the ground.

"You'll learn eventually, but I've decided to end your group now. Everyone that has ever been associated with that woman has been eliminated."

Arms sprouted from Robin's back as her emotions began to run wild.

"Why is that, Nico Robin?" Aokoji asked her, staring into her eyes.

Last time he remembered, her eyes were brown.

"Shut up, you bastard!" Luffy's vision was turning red.

"I see you've already earned his trust. Will you betray that as w-"

"Be quiet!" Robin shouted as her arms turned black, "If you're coming after me, then bring it on!"

Black arms erupted from Aokoji and more held him down, his eyes showing surprise.

Before he was broken in half, he had turned to ice and escaped from the clutch.

"What?! Where did you learn that?!" Aokoji had a tinge of fear run through his body. Blood spilled out from several holes, but they quickly filled up with ice.

She was truly dangerous now. She could kill him if he wasn't careful.

He picked up some grass and turned it into an ice saber. He had to kill her now! His duty demanded it!

His sword was blocked by Zoro and kicked away by Sanji.

Aokoji was about to grab them, but he was tackled by a white monstrosity.

He tried to escape, but looked into the eyes of a monster and found he couldn't even move.

An arm slammed into his gut, making him grunt a little in pain.

"Ice Time!" He attempted to freeze Luffy, but Luffy had already jumped back into the air.

Sanji had appeared behind him and Luffy grabbed onto his leg.

He looked over to where Robin was, but his head was cut off by Zoro.

Black arms grabbed onto his body, preventing him from moving.

Sanji launched Luffy towards Aokoji, turning Luffy into a living missle.

He crashed into Aokoji's body and he spat out some blood from his decapitated head.

"Enough!" Aokoji started to freeze everything around his body.

Zoro's foot had become iced and he grabbed at it.

Luffy's hands had frozen, but he pulled away from Aokoji, the skin breaking off of them.

Blood ran down Luffy's hands as he continued to stare at Aokoji.

Ussop had run over and picked up Zoro with the help of Chopper.

"Everyone!" Luffy's growls had stopped as he addressed his crew, "Go back to the ship! Be prepared to leave!"

The Straw Hats sent their words of acknowledgment and ran back to the ship.

Robin had stayed behind.

"Robin! Go and help them!" Aokoji started walking in their direction.

"No! This is my fight, Luffy! I can't let you all be dr-"

"Don't be stupid! I won't let you fight this guy alone!" He interrupted, turning towards her.

Robin was surprised to see that he looked more worried than angry.

"You won't sacrifice yourself! I won't let you!" He growled as he faced the approaching ice man.

"Oh my, you've really earned the trust of this one."

Robin grit her teeth, she started to look deep within herself.

"Oh? You want some help?" A familiar voice called out from within.

"Please." She pleaded, "I can't let him be dragged down into my troubles. I need your help."

"Finally!" Hana sounded happy, "You're finally going to fight back against this world?! It's about time!"

Robin felt a surge of power as more arms began to sprout in the area.

Aokoji felt a little fear as he looked at the white terror and the field of black arms that had formed behind Robin.

This was going to be rough.

* * *

Sanji rushed Zoro into the shower located in the Going Merry's bathroom, careful to make sure his foot didn't smash against anything.

Zoro grunted in pain as he felt the cold water cascade down his form. Chopper was in the room checking his wounds. Sanji had run out to help prepare the Going Merry to depart.

Zoro felt a little useless. Luffy had even pulled away and tore his hands, but he was still fighting! For all of their sakes! He needed to get up and help him out!

He tried to stand, but Chopper had held him down.

"Let go, Chopper! I need to help Luffy!"

"No! You can't move! Your foot has almost been frozen solid! You have to wait here!" He told Zoro as he shoved him back down into the shower.

Chopper really wanted to help Luffy too, but he could only do as his captain had commanded.

* * *

Aokoji dodged Luffy's rocket as he tried to ram him for the 4th time. Luffy had several places on his body that had iced over, but he pushed on.

Robin's hands looked frostbitten as she tried to grab a hold of Aokoji before he could hit Luffy.

Aokoji, using Kenbunshoku haki, disappeared into ice and used the moisture in the air to travel close to Robin.

Robin had sensed that though and formed close to a hundred hands.

A gigantic arm had appeared out of the ground and tried to strike Aokoji.

He could only stare at what she had done, before he quickly used the moisture in the air to travel away.

He tried to see where Robin had gone, but his vision was obscured by Luffy's maw of teeth.

Aokoji hit him to the side, freezing the side of his face.

Luffy bounced off the ground and almost slid, but hands had sprouted and stopped him from being too dazed.

Luffy hunched over and started breathing heavier. He then started to bang his head on the ground and his legs started to coil.

'What's he doing?' Aokoji thought before he saw Luffy's legs start to turn into pumps.

It looked like they were pumping something faster within Luffy, and Aokoji suddenly realized what he was doing.

"It can't be?!" He started to yell as he knew this was going to get harder.

Luffy just looked up and roared as steam burst from his body. His eyes trained on Aokoji.

His arms shot into the ground and propelled him at a speed Aokoji didn't expect.

Luffy's head hit him like a missile and he didn't notice that Luffy had kept his arms back.

Being Jet Bazooka'ed was a feeling Aokoji never wanted to feel again as he was sent across the field.

Black hands sprouted from his body and twisted his body. He heard a few bones crack.

After he had landed, he took stock of his injuries.

A new broken spine, a cracked sternum, and several ruptured organs. Lovely.

His body reformed itself, repairing most of the damage.

His entire body turned into ice.

There was no more messing around. They were too powerful to play with.

* * *

Nami was beginning to get worried as Sanji finally lifted the anchor out of the water.

They had made sure everything was ready for an emergency get away. The Log Pose would reset while they were at sea.

Zoro had come out with only a sore and numb foot. He would make a full recovery.

He had wanted to go, but everyone stopped him. Luffy's orders were absolute.

Nami couldn't help but glance towards where they had left Luffy and Robin.

It had been a few hours since they had finished preparing. They were going to go see what had happened in a bit.

* * *

Aokoji stood over the gasping forms of Luffy and Robin.

He hated this tactic, but it was very effective against someone like Luffy.

Luffy tried to get up and shield Robin, but his arms were frozen to hers, so he instead did his best to put himself in between the admiral and his crew mate.

Aokoji didn't say a word as he froze the two completely.

Robin's eyes held fear within them as she watched Luffy freeze completely first.

Luffy only roared quietly as he saw Robin become frozen.

Making sure they had both lost consciousness, he sat down next to them.

His earlier words ringing through his head, he got up and walked over to them.

He brought his foot down, smashing the ice.

The frozen ground near the two cracked and splintered, but it didn't hurt them.

Aokoji's eyes grew softer as he looked at the fear still present within the unconscious Robin.

"You really do look so much like your mother..." He allowed a few brief memories to flow through him.

Memories he regretted.

He then looked at Luffy, who had tried his best to keep her from being hurt.

"You better protect her, Straw Hat. I know I might not be able to after I speak to your grandfather."

Aokoji spared them a brief glance as he walked away.

He was glad that Robin had finally found a place, but he was worried the world might tear them apart.

* * *

Robin woke up, gasping in terror as she looked at her surroundings.

She was in the Going Merry. The women's room.

Looking at Nami's bed, she discovered that Nami had leaned against her bed, and was snoring lightly.

Nami's bed was empty, but it looked like it had been occupied.

Robin quietly got up, making sure to not disturb Nami.

She walked outside to the deck. Fresh air would be good for her.

Luffy was near the side of the ship. It looked like they had already set sail for another island because the Long Ring Long Land islands.

Luffy was leaning against the railing. He was distracted by the waves.

She moved next to him and he finally noticed her.

"Hey, Robin. Looks like we got out of that one alright." He tried to smile, but it was weak.

He was unhappy.

"Yes, we are still alive, fortunately." Aokoji had shown them mercy.

Robin could only wonder why.

She looked back at Luffy who continued to look out at the sea.

He was clenching his fists tightly. She could see blood seeping onto the railing.

Luffy was surprised when Robin had grabbed his hand and he looked in her eyes.

"He's an admiral, Luffy. There was nothing you could do."

He didn't look convinced.

"That doesn't matter. If he didn't spare us, we would be dead." His eyes started to darken. He was just falling further into depression.

"At least Aokoji would do that much for us. He could have turned us into a Facility."

Luffy stirred at her words and looked at her curiously.

"What do you know about the Facilities?"

Robin smiled a little, but cringed as well. Memories flooded her mind.

"I've been subjected to their horrors once before, Luffy."

Luffy grit his teeth a bit. His eyebrows furrowed.

"...I've found that they actually took something rather important from me..." She looked away to the ocean. A frown and downcast eyes were seen on her face.

"It was something I thought I could never have. They took one of my dreams away, Luffy."

Luffy just stared at Robin with a worried and pained look.

"Aokoji was one of those things from my past that I have tried to run from, but my past always comes back to haunt me. It's robbed me of my life."

"And it robbed me of my child."

Luffy put his other hand on top of Robin's and she looked at him. She had tears in her eyes and one even fell down her face.

"Please, don't cry."

"I promise, I'll protect you. I won't let the World take anything away from you ever again."

She looked into his determined eyes. It looked like she managed to bring back her willful captain.

Robin just smiled a little and felt the warmth from his hands.

"I never thought that I would be allowed this." Robin wiped some tears away from her eyes.

Luffy saw pain, but more than that.

He saw that she felt free. He saw hope within her eyes.

"Thank you, Luffy."

He didn't say anything else as they continued to stare at the moonlight reflecting off the dark black waters.

* * *

**I think I screwed up the ending, but meh! Hope you all enjoyed! Up next, Water 7!  
**


	15. Cracks in the Glass

**Alright everyone! Water 7 arc! Next chapter will be Enies Lobby! **

**Now, quick warning. My writing might not be good, but I tried my best to emulate what the Straw Hats went through, if that makes any sense. **

**There's a new development in this chapter. Things don't happen like they do in the manga/anime. **

**Hope you all enjoy! I kinda went insane halfway through this chapter, so I hope it didn't turn out too bad!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"The frozen me!" Luffy tried his best to imitate his frozen posture as he hopped on one foot.

Ussop and Chopper just laughed at Luffy's silliness. He jumped into a wall.

Sanji had given Nami and Robin some Potato Paille.

"Delicious!" "Well done, Cook-san."

"I can die happy!" Sanji screamed to the heavens, waves of water splashed up as the world celebrated his joy!

"Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cactus." Sanji was in heaven. Even the green bastard couldn-

"You goddamn Dartboard!"

"What did you say?!" Sanji now looked at Zoro with murderous intent.

"You heard me." Zoro unsheathed his swords and they started to fight.

They were surprised when Ussop had stopped them by grabbing their ears and he was followed by everyone but Luffy and Robin.

The two Straw Hats looked at the crew in confusion.

"This is a secret meeting! Don't spy on us!" He said as they went into the kitchen area.

Luffy and Robin looked at each other.

"He doesn't actually expect us to listen, does he?"

Robin just smiled and crossed her arms.

* * *

The others were seated at the kitchen table.

"Hey, what gives, Ussop? What was that for?" Sanji asked as he sat across from Zoro. He still glared at him.

"We just went up against an Admiral. If tougher enemies like that are going to show, we have to make a strategy."

"So why exclude Robin and Luffy?" Nami raised her eyebrow. Something was missing.

"Those two are monsters compared to us. They were able to hold off that guy for a while!" Ussop just looked at everyone.

"I don't know about all of you, but I think we need to prepare something in case we get caught without one of them to help us out."

"But why stop them from coming in? Can't they help us?"

"Luffy wouldn't be able to provide anything. He'll just say that he'll take care of it. Robin...I don't want her in here because, frankly, she scares me." Ussop said as he nodded his head.

"I think if she really wanted to, she could have killed that guy."

"What makes you say that?" Sanji had begun to get interested in the conversation.

"Didn't you notice her arms turning black? Luffy's arm also turned the same color! I think they might be hiding something from us..." Ussop looked around the room. His paranoia was acting up.

"Why would they hide something from us?" Chopper asked with worry. Luffy didn't seem the type to hide information and Robin was too kind.

"I don't know what this is all about." Zoro said for the first time, "But I agree with Ussop. Those two are the strongest at the moment. We can't just let them take care of all the work."

"But how are we supposed to get stronger?" Nami didn't believe they were having this conversation.

Why couldn't they just let those two do the fighting? She let everyone else fight for her.

"I suggest training together." Zoro said, eying the others.

Luffy and Robin couldn't be for them all the time.

"I'll protect the ladies! The rest of you fend for yourselves." Sanji added in.

"Hm, we can try to work on our teamwork." Nami had a finger to her chin.

"Train together? I like that idea!" Chopper enthused as he thought about being as strong as Luffy and Zoro.

"I can-! I can build new inventions!" Ussop claimed as looked at everyone else.

"Alright! We should include the other two though. They would be able to help us out if they're as strong as we think." Zoro said as he stood up.

* * *

Robin just kept smiling as she witnessed their determination.

"Hey, Robin? What are they talking about?" Luffy poked Robin's arm.

"They want to get stronger, so that we don't have to worry about them during fights."

"Oh? Really? Is that all? I can help with that!" Luffy stood up and started walking towards the kitchen.

Zoro came out. He saw Luffy walking towards him. The others were behind him.

"Alright! You all want to get stronger?! Let's spar!" Luffy hit Zoro in the face.

* * *

It had been a few hours since they had started training.

Luffy stood above the others as they gasped for air. Robin sat on the railing and watched.

"Luffy...you're a monster." Zoro's face had not healed from getting hit.

"I've decided what you should all work on!"

"Zoro!" He looked at Zoro.

"You should work on not getting hit!"

"That's pretty obvious! You're just too fast!"

"Sanji!" Luffy glanced at Sanji, who was keeled over the ship's railing next to Robin.

"You need to be able to move out of the way! You leave yourself too open!"

"Bastard..." Sanji muttered. He didn't know how to move in mid-air.

"Nami!" Nami was slumped against the wall.

"You need to develop more attacks! You're able to hide pretty well, but your attacks are a little weak!

"My attacks don't even work on you..." Nami was tired. She had managed to make mirages using her new Clima-Tact, but Luffy had managed to glance her. Luckily, she hadn't sustained any heavy damage. Luffy was going easy on them.

"Chopper!" Chopper had been sitting next to Zoro.

"Your forms are cool, but you need to transform faster!"

"Thanks, Luffy..." Chopper's head hurt. He wasn't able to change from Jumping Point into Guard Point fast enough and had received a fist in the head.

"Ussop!" Ussop was face down, his head raised because of his nose.

"Yes?"

"..."

"...Luffy? Are you trying to say something?"

"You need to strengthen your body. Try to make it so you can use Impact more."

"Yes..." Ussop had no strength to argue. He was drained.

"Alright! Let's all do that again, except you all fight Robin!"

The Straw Hats started to groan. Robin and Luffy could be heard laughing.

They truly were devils.

* * *

The Straw Hats had arrived in Water 7. It looked like it floated on the ocean, and many of the streets were made of water.

Before actually reaching the water metropolis, they had come across an old woman and her granddaughter.

The old woman was named Kokoro. She was the Sea-Train conductor. Her granddaughter was named Chimney and she had a cat (rabbit?) named Gonbe.

She had pointed them to Water 7. They had seen a frog try to stop the train, but it had failed. Luffy agreed to not eat the frog due to how hard it tried to stop the train. Kokoro had given them a note that would ensure the best shipwrights to look at the Going Merry as long as they gave it to the mayor, Iceburg.

Robin watched as Luffy scribbled on a pad of paper. It looked like he would grace them with another masterpiece.

"Our shipwright must look like this." He presented the picture to Ussop, Sanji, and Robin.

It was some sort of alien being with huge arms and short legs.

"If I saw that guy, I would start running away." Ussop cringed. The drawing was absolutely terrible.

"I would too. I'd also jump into the sea, but the thing looks like it's part octopus. It would just follow me in." Sanji had already experienced this before, but it never got any better.

"You better not be talking about me!" Zoro yelled from afar. He wouldn't stand Sanji insulting him behind his back.

Robin just giggled.

* * *

The Going Merry had docked and Luffy, Ussop, and Nami had departed into the city to exchange the gold.

Robin went with Chopper to the bookstore. He was so cute when he saw the many books that would help him be a better doctor.

She held his hoof as they perused the wares. He hummed the "Baka Song".

They had stopped to look at a few. Chopper had asked if they could buy them and she said they could.

Exiting the bookstore in a good mood, Robin smiled.

Was this what it was like to feel alive?

She looked at Chopper and he looked up at her.

A smile was on his muzzle as he happily thanked her.

He hugged her leg.

This is what she had been searching for.

She now had a family.

Robin laughed happily just as a figure came dashing towards them, pulling out rope as it did so.

* * *

Luffy, Nami, and Ussop left the exchange office with grins on their faces.

They had gotten 300 million belli! And they hadn't exchanged everything yet!

There were some accidents, like Luffy almost throwing 100 million belli into the water.

That was only a small accident.

"I'm sorry." Luffy's face was beaten beyond recognition, "I'll never do it again. Forgive me..."

Ussop felt a little sorry for Luffy, but he had it coming.

They had tried to enter the shipyard, but was stopped by a strange man.

"Hey, Ussop?" Luffy tried greeting the strange man that looked like Ussop.

Ussop smacked Luffy's face.

"I'm right here! That's someone else."

The strange man turned out to be one of the best carpenters that belonged to Galley-La, the major shipyard company.

Iceburg had showed up and introduced the man that had gone to inspect the Going Merry.

They didn't expect to find Iceburg this easily, but they gave him the note from Kokoro.

He saw the lipmark on the envelope and had promptly ripped it to shreds, stating it creeped him out.

Iceburg liked them, so he decided to show them around the area.

No one had noticed Ussop being pulled to the side, his mouth covered so he wouldn't make any noise.

* * *

Zoro stood above the bodies of the men that called themselves members of the Franky Family.

They were really weak, but he felt something was wrong.

It was weak, but he sensed several auras.

None of them felt good, but he had no time to think.

A strange man that looked like Ussop had arrived.

* * *

The masked man ran as fast as he could, a sack in his hand that held his prize.

He ducked behind many alleyways, but he couldn't escape. He jumped to the roofs.

Robin suddenly appeared in front of him, arms sprouted from her back as she roared. Rose petals were flying through the air.

Her skin had turned black and her eyes glowed red as she tried to grab the man who had taken Chopper.

The man dodged and paused as Robin stared at him. He was sure that she was still on the ground floor, but how had she gotten up here?

"I'm from CP9." He merely said.

"Return Chopper!" She growled as she put her arms across her chest, her other arms pointed at the man.

"You'll get your pet back after you do something for us, Nico Robin." He held the sack up. It hung limply from his grasp.

Arms erupted from his body, surprising the man. The hands attempted to grab the bag.

The man disappeared through a door that he had formed.

"Here are instructions on what you must do." The retched voice had spoken as if it was next to her ear.

She swung her black arms as hard as she could towards the voice, making a shockwave of air smash into a distant building.

A piece of paper laid next to her.

Picking it up, she noticed the first instruction.

'Do not contact your crew.'

Robin could only stare in shock and horror where he had been.

Chopper's smile was burned into her sight.

She held her head as tears began to fall. Her teeth clenched so tight they cracked.

They had taken Chopper!

* * *

Some time had passed by. None of the others had heard from Ussop, Robin, or Chopper in a while so they searched for their missing crew mates.

Luffy, Nami, Sanji, and Zoro learned that the Going Merry was doomed from the carpenters. There was nothing they could do. Ussop had gone missing and they had managed to find Sanji. The three main fighters went to go find the three missing Straw Hats.

Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro stood in front of a broken Ussop. Blood pooled beneath him while tears still fell from his shut eyes.

He looked like he was in critical condition, and Chopper was nowhere to be found.

Luffy's knuckles cracked as he made a fist.

There was a building in front of them. A familiar star shape symbol was on it. It was the symbol that some thieves had worn while they attacked Zoro and Luffy's group.

Zoro tied his bandana on. He then drew his swords.

Ussop had tried to apologize, but only garbled words came out. They looked to see that his mouth was cut up from the inside.

They had inserted blades into his mouth.

Sanji flicked his cigarette away. And smoke escaped from his mouth in a rush.

"Ussop." Luffy's warped voice sounded quiet in the open area.

"Please, hang on for a bit. We'll be back in a second."

Ussop tried to get up, but his knees had been fractured.

He cried pitifully.

"S-S-S-Sorry...for...b-b-being...weak..."

Luffy's slitted eyes shot open and he stared maliciously at the Franky Family House. The air began to shiver.

Zoro had a dark aura surrounding him. It reeked of bloodlust.

Sanji felt a burning rage come forth from within. He was going to fry those bastards.

The Franky Family would know Ussop's pain. They would make sure of that.

* * *

Luffy kicked the door down and it had flown across the room.

The three entered the Franky Family House.

Initially, they startled the occupants, but after seeing who it was, they started mocking them.

A tall man, possibly 16 ft tall, had approached the group.

"So, you fools have come to take your money back?! Well, let's see how well you-!"

Luffy hands flew at the man and he had flinched, but nothing struck him.

He opened his eyes to see Luffy's arms moving in a flurry, but stopped just before they hit him.

The Franky Family started to laugh. He was so scared he wouldn't even touch him!

Luffy's moving arms had turned black.

He remembered the first time he had seen Ussop fire a cannon. He looked so happy that he had found a place within the crew.

"Cannon!" Luffy shouted as his own bloodlust began to rise.

He wanted them to suffer for what they had done.

His hands had converged into one point near the man's armor. It had stopped just before it hit him.

The force broke apart the armor as well as the man's back. Gore flew out as the strength behind it was too much, even if it hadn't connected.

The air pressure caused more Franky Family members to smash against the walls, leaving little trails of blood.

* * *

The other two Straw Hats took this as the sign to attack.

A few Franky Family members had charged Zoro, but as he got closer, they stopped.

Their hearts almost stopped cold from the terror they felt. The aura Zoro exuded was too much!

They began to pass out, but Zoro had passed through them.

"Tora Gari!" They flew through the air, they had already been cut.

"Oni Giri!" His figure flashed as he disappeared, cutting one man severely.

He had appeared in the middle of a group.

"Tatsumaki!" The Franky Family members flew upwards, being devastated by the many slashes Zoro had inflicted upon them.

"Shoot him with cannonballs!" Cannons firing could be heard.

"Karasuma Gari!" He cut through the cannonballs, they exploded and consumed several enemies.

"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!" He sent waves of cutting waves towards the Franky Family members, it had cut through the steel armor they had worn and several of them fell in pieces.

The survivors could only stare at Zoro as a demonic figure appeared behind him.

They began to run away.

* * *

"Concassé!" Sanji's foot landed on one of the members, crushing him and creating a crater in the ground.

"Basse Côte!" "Longe!"

Sanji swung his legs, sweeping several people down to the ground, their heads hitting it and making dents. He then used the momentum from the first kick to smack more people in the face.

He landed hands first on another Franky Family member in the middle of a group.

"Party-Table Kick Course!"

They all went flying, the force of the kicks deforming their faces.

Sanji's leg felt hot as he continued to spin around, kicking every Franky Family member that he could.

He felt as if his soul itself was on fire from the rage he held.

* * *

The three had surrounded the group. They slowly closed in while the Franky Family members tried to squeeze together.

"You want the money, right?!" The black spiky haired Franky Family member pleaded with the Straw Hats.

"The 200 million belli that worthless guy ha-?!"

He found himself lifted up by Luffy's hand. He stared into the abyss that Luffy had for eyes.

And it stared back.

The Franky Family members were oppressed by an invisible force. Causing them to almost lose consciousness.

The three monsters began to close in on the helpless bounty hunters.

One was a demon born from hatred, another was the very image of burning hate.

The most terrifying one was the devil that seemed to consume their very hopes of survival. It ate at their will and crushed their spirits.

They realized that they had brought this all upon themselves. They had messed with the monster's family, and that they would pay dearly for it.

* * *

After the Straw Hats were done, they left the members sitting in the middle of the room.

They met outside to do one final attack.

Franky's House exploded in a fiery blaze, the force had sent nearby ocean waves to rise.

Luffy picked up Ussop as gently as he could.

He headed towards a local doctor. He may have not trusted anyone but Chopper, but it was no time to be picky.

* * *

A day passed. Fortunately, Ussop was able to be healed. His wounds were still severe, but they were able to help him so that he would retain functionality.

They had moved Ussop to the Going Merry, but it had proven to be a mistake.

"I told you, Ussop! We need to find a new ship! The Going Merry has carried us far, but this is the end!"

"Luffy! Is that how you treat one of your friends?! After you've used them as much as you can, you abandon them?!"

They were both getting emotional. Luffy had suggested the idea of finding a new ship, but Ussop wouldn't listen.

His own failures rang through his head. The Going Merry had been the one thing that he had been able to contribute to the Straw Hats (though it was from Kaya) and he didn't even want to think about getting a new ship.

Luffy remembered all the times people would be killed in the Facilities because they had become useless. It had hurt him so much, but the Going Merry could get them killed! He could feel the pain Ussop felt, but why wouldn't he see reason?!

"There's no future for Merry! If we go out to sea with her, one day she'll just fall apart and we'll die!"

"That's nonsense! We'll just fix her! Just like always!"

"You're not a carpenter, Ussop!"

"That doesn't matter! She'll carry us to wherever we want to go! She always has!"

"Merry can't! She's going to die!"

Ussop stared coldy at Luffy.

"Do you remember what I said, Luffy?! If you don't know anything about Merry, you aren't fit to be the captain!"

Luffy slammed Ussop into the floor of the kitchen, the other Straw Hats made some protest, but they were unable to stop what was coming next.

"You think you're the only one that cares about the Going Merry, Ussop?! You think that you're the only one in pain?!"

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"If you don't like my decisions, Ussop...then maybe you should just-!"

"That's enough!" Sanji kicked Luffy in the head, causing him to fly into the wall.

Ussop laid on the floor in silence.

Luffy slumped to the floor, but he got up.

He had a frown, but he was calming down.

"Sorry, Ussop. I wasn-"

"No. You meant that." Ussop slowly got up.

"Wait, what are you-?" Nami couldn't stand this. She held one hand to her mouth.

"You'll just leave anyone who is useless behind. All to become-"

Ussop sneered at Luffy.

"-The Pirate King. Isn't that right, Luffy?!"

Luffy could only stare at Ussop in fury.

"I quit. I challenge you to a duel, Luffy. Whoever wins..."

"Gets the Going Merry."

* * *

Nami had tried to stop the fight, but was unable to. Zoro stood in silence as he watched Luffy and Ussop stand a few meters away from each other. Sanji smoked his cigarette, wondering where everything went wrong.

The rain was pouring from the night sky. It drenched everything. Luffy and Ussop stood on the rocky shore of Water 7.

"I'll just let you know that my 8000 followers are awaiting my command to destroy you, Luffy!"

"You're lying! You never had 8000 followers!"

"Then eat this, "Ussop Spell!"!"

Luffy had already launched his hand towards Ussop.

Ussop fell to the ground as Luffy's hand hit him, blood spilled from his mouth.

Running over to Ussop, Luffy crouched down.

He saw that Ussop wasn't bleeding. He had faked it with one of his "Ketchup Stars".

Ussop held his Impact Dial to Luffy's head.

"Impact!"

Ussop's arm had taken more damage than it could stand as he discharged Luffy's pistol back at him, but Ussop wasn't finished yet.

The force sent Luffy flying back a bit. A flavor dial was attached to his pants.

It was already releasing a yellow smoke.

"Flame Star!"

The explosion consumed Luffy as he flew backwards.

He landed on metal spikes that Ussop had planted.

Luffy started to get up, but his eyes had been hit by a weird smelling gunk.

It hurt his eyes! He tried to rub it off.

"How do you like that?! "Egg Star" mixed with "Pepper Star"! You can't win this, Luffy!"

Luffy's skin turned white as he glared at Ussop.

He shot one hand into the ground and put his other into the air.

Luffy shot forward, using a "Gum Gum Rocket" and his other arm had stayed back.

Ussop just watched Luffy's attack approaching. He attached his impact dial to his hammer.

Luffy's bullet was coming, but Ussop had been ready.

He absorbed the bullet and raised the hammer.

"Exploding Cactus Star!" He shoved a capsule into Luffy's mouth.

Razor sharp needles exploded in Luffy's mouth, stabbing in every direction.

Without thinking, Luffy brought his claws forward.

Ussop winced as Luffy's claws dug into his side, but he still had to finish this!

"Take this, "Captain"." He mocked Luffy as he brought his hammer up.

"Ussop Hammer!"

The Impact Dial on the hammer released the force, causing the head to fly off.

It had served its purpose. Luffy was hit with his own rocket-powered bullet and his head flew into the ground. His claws ripped out of Ussop and he was laying face down on the rocks.

Ussop was breathing heavily. He had been injured, but he had won!

A white clawed hand grabbed onto his head.

Ussop was lifted off the ground and he stared in disbelief at Luffy.

His face only had teeth.

Luffy's arm stretched forward a little, making Ussop move away from Luffy, but it returned.

A fist awaited Ussop as it smashed into him.

The knuckles dug into his head, and forced him into the ground.

Ussop's breathes were shallow. That last hit had been the final blow.

Luffy started to walk back towards the ship. He crunched on the metal spikes and swallowed.

"There was no way that you could win!" He shouted to the distant form of Ussop as he held the hand that had finished Ussop. Blood poured from his mouth and he knew that it would probably damage his insides.

"It's been fun...Ussop..."

"You can have the Going Merry. We're moving on."

He slowly walked back towards the Going Merry. He could hear Nami crying and Sanji trying to console her.

"Heavy..." He breathed out. He felt so weighted down, as if he finally understood the situation.

"That's the price that comes with being a captain." Zoro called out to him from the Going Merry.

Zoro didn't like this at all, but Ussop had done the unforgivable. He had stopped believing in Luffy.

"If you can't be decisive, who can we believe in?!"

Luffy had stopped listening as he held his hat closer to his head. His transformation had receded as soon as he felt the sorrow overwhelm his anger.

Tears spilled from his eyes and he clenched his teeth to prevent his cries from escaping his throat.

He tried to keep his emotions in, but how could he?!

He had just beaten his friend into a bloody pulp.

Luffy could only remember how defeated Ussop looked as he knew that he had lost.

Ussop had gone up against a force much stronger than him for his treasure! For what he believed in!

And he had lost...!

Luffy felt disgusted along with his sadness. How was he different from all the other monsters he had seen on his journey?

* * *

In another area, Chopper didn't know where he was as he woke up. His vision was met with darkness.

His arms felt restricted. His head hurt.

He knew that he had been drugged. He just couldn't tell with what.

The lights flashed on, momentarily blinding Chopper and making him yelp.

"Patient 5 is now awake. We will begin extraction." Some weird people had surrounded what appeared to be a table.

Chopper was held down by straps and he could see more metal tables around his.

They all held surgical equipment.

"Hey! What's going on?! Where am I?" Chopper pleaded with his captors.

He couldn't see their expressions behind their masks.

"Should we apply anesthetic?" One of the nurses asked, her voice professional.

"No. There's no need." The man above his head said, his own voice emotionless. As if he was only doing something mundane and boring.

Chopper struggled even more. The man held a scalpel in his hands and came closer to him.

This wasn't good! They were going to operate on him?! What were they going to do?!

"Beginning now."

Without warning, the scalpel plunged into his hide.

"No! Help me! Zoro! Robin! Luffy! Anyone!"

The doctors had pulled his hide apart, revealing his flesh underneath.

"Please! Help me!" His eyes were wide with terror and pain.

"Interesting...he's not human. Judging by his screams, I thought he was one."

"This calls for more experimentation later. Let's take some samples."

The doctors ignore his pleas as they continued to cut into Chopper. Pulling pieces of flesh and sticking syringes into his body.

His tiny screams of pain slowly died down to nothing more than gagging noises after a hour had passed. His throat flooded with blood, but they had attached tubes to his lungs so he wouldn't suffocate. Before his throat was filled, his voice had gone ragged from his screaming.

The tearing of flesh was the only noise after more time had passed. They were going to depart today, but they were told that the little reindeer would be getting a few visits from high ranking personnel. It seems that he was blackmail against someone.

The doctors and nurses didn't care. They were only employed to experiment, vivisect, dissect, and analyze patients.

And they loved what they did.

* * *

The night passed slowly for Luffy. He waited till morning on the roof of the hotel his crew were staying at.

They had left the Going Merry with Ussop behind.

He looked to his side.

No one was there. There was no comforting smile. No calm demeanor to his extreme attitude. No soft melodious voice telling him everything would be alright.

Luffy felt the loneliest he had ever felt in a long time.

Being a captain meant you had to bear the weight of your decisions. Even if you didn't like them.

Even if you were alone.

* * *

He looked around, noticing that it had become morning. He tried to remember the last time he had eaten, but too much had happened yesterday and the day before. The feeling of despair overpowered his hunger.

Nami and Sanji were with him. He hadn't noticed them coming up to see him. They looked like they thought he was asleep.

Robin and Chopper were still missing. No one had seen either one of them.

He could only frown at this news. Robin had looked so happy the night they had spent together watching the sea at night. She looked so free and happy...

Why would she leave? Did she take Chopper with her?

Luffy only slightly listened to the rest of their conversation. Iceburg had been shot by a mysterious assassin.

"The Ice guy was shot? I think I'll go pay him a visit." Luffy announced as he surprised his Navigator and Cook.

He jumped off from his perch and stretched a bit.

Hurt or not, he needed answer from Iceburg. He was the Mayor of this city, so he might know where Robin and Chopper had gone to.

* * *

Luffy stared at the man in front of him, hate evident in his gaze.

The man's name was Franky. He had long, messy blue hair that floated above his head. His forearms were large, and he only wore a speedo. He looked pretty strong.

Nami was worried about Luffy, so she went with him to visit Iceburg. They were outside Dock 1 and they were confronted by Franky.

Luffy was beginning to get annoyed as he ignored Franky's speech. He didn't come here for a performance.

He came because he needed answers from Iceburg, not wrestle with some pervert wearing a speedo.

Franky had shot fire at them from his mouth, surprising the two Straw Hats. Luffy grabbed Nami and jumped to one of the streets on the sides of the water.

"I've heard about your powers, Straw Hat!" Franky had descended to their level and was now walking towards them.

"I wonder who's stronger? You or me?" He cracked his knuckles.

Luffy had gotten tired of waiting and rocketed towards Franky.

"Strong Right!" Franky's fist shot out and hit Luffy, but Luffy flipped off the fist using his head and his momentum carried him over to Franky.

Franky noticed that he had kept one of his hands back.

"Gum Gum Bullet!" His hand sunk into Franky's abdomen, but it didn't look like Franky had felt any pain.

"Fresh Fire!"

Luffy was about to be consumed by the flames, but he had lifted Franky's head so the fire would dissipate harmlessly into the air.

Franky raised his left arm and the hand slid to the side, revealing gun barrels.

"Weapons Left!"

The bullets impacted with Luffy's body, but they had bounced off.

He just gripped Franky's head with his other hand and started squeezing.

Luffy thought that this guy's body was pretty weird, but kinda cool. It seemed like he stored weapons within himself.

A giant piece of plywood flew into the both of them, sending them away from each other.

The shipwrights of Galley-La appeared. They were going to stop this fighting.

Luffy was beyond reasoning now. He just stared as the shipwrights and Franky argued about something.

Paulie wrapped Luffy's hand up in rope.

Luffy pulled hard and watched Paulie coming towards him. He stopped Paulie's flight with his fist and knocked him down into the ground.

The pigeon guy rushed towards him. Luffy barely had enough time to block all the attacks. This guy was much stronger than the others!

A sudden knee to the chin took Luffy off guard and a leg snap sent him tumbling towards the ground.

He heard Paulie mention Robin's name as he recovered.

"Robin?! You know where she is?!" Luffy questioned Paulie, who had started to attack Luffy instead of answering.

He heard people begin to mutter about Robin. Even the shipwrights talked badly about her.

"Shut up! You don't know her like we do, so don't talk about her!" Luffy roared at the bystanders, making a few pass out. He didn't realize that he had partially transformed his face to look like a demon's.

He looked directly into Paulie's eyes.

"Take us to the old Ice guy! It must be a mistake!"

Before Paulie was able to respond, Luffy saw Nami getting grabbed by some of the spectators.

The offending spectators found that Luffy's rubber fists were harder than metal as he pounded them quickly into the ground and jumped away with Nami.

Nothing was making sense! What was going on?!

He just headed to the main Galley-La building. Nami had told him that Iceburg was there.

She had also explained something about a mystery typhoon, but he wasn't worried about that.

He needed to find Robin and Chopper. Something terribly wrong had happened.

* * *

Meeting with Iceburg left a bad feeling in his stomach.

Iceburg said that he saw Robin. When she had tried to kill him by shooting him with a pistol.

Iceburg told him that he wanted to meet Robin again, but Luffy didn't even know where she was.

Luffy started brooding.

Sanji had told them that Robin had made contact with him.

She had said goodbye.

Luffy clenched his fists.

All the Straw Hats aside from Sanji, Chopper, and Robin were present. They were currently outside the main Galley-La building in a tree.

Zoro had told him that Robin could be an enemy, but Luffy remained stubborn.

Robin was a friend. He needed to know why she was doing all of this.

An explosion occurred near the base of the Galley-La building.

Looking at his family, he decided to go on ahead.

He didn't want to scar them with what he would do to whoever used Robin against him.

Using his senses, he found Robin's presence. She was with some man and they went inside the building.

"Everyone, go down there. Try to get inside, but retreat if things get bad." Luffy announced.

"What do you have planned, Luffy?" Zoro was suspicious of Luffy. He had a slight feeling he knew what Luffy was going to do.

"Just go, everyone! Try to stay safe!" He grinned at them. Their worried looks made him nervous.

They left and he tried sensing Robin again.

She was inside. Near Iceburg.

Putting his hands on the branch he was on, he leaned back and fell.

He was going to find out what this was all about, right now.

* * *

Robin had straddled Iceburg. She pointed 6 guns at him.

The man in the polar bear mask that was with her had exited the room a while ago. It seemed that some of the shipwrights had some fight in them, and he didn't want any interruptions.

"Heh, no kill like overkill, huh?" Iceburg attempted a joke.

Robin had just told him her story. About why she was working with the World Government.

It seemed that he had been wrong about the woman.

"Shut up." She replied coldly, "Where are the plans for Pluton?"

"Sorry." Iceburg grinned at her.

"You've been fo-"

Something crashed into the wall, causing dust to fly.

'Oh no.' Robin thought as she recognized the presence.

"Robin! Are you here?!" Luffy emerged from the smoke. The polar bear man had entered the room.

"Everyone, get here quick. There's a problem." The polar bear man said into a Mini Den Den Mushi.

"Luffy..." Robin stared at Luffy.

Luffy noticed her straddling Iceburg.

"Robin?! What are you doing?!" He looked over at the polar bear man.

"Hey! You're the guy in the mask Sanji had mentioned! I'm going to-!"

A hand struck Luffy in the face, sending him into the wall.

He tried to look up, but his head was grabbed by a clawed hand. He tried to struggle, but he was held firmly to the wall.

Luffy heard voices, but the one that stood out the most was Robin.

It seemed like she was arguing about not hurting someone.

Whatever was going on, it looked like the strange people had finished their business.

The clawed hand threw him into the opposite wall. Robin was exiting with the strange people.

"Wait, Robin! Where are you going?!"

"I'm sorry, Luffy. But I have to do this." She looked at him.

He could see the pain, the frustration. She was upset.

The thing that hurt him the most was the thing that was missing.

That freedom that he had seen was gone. It was replaced by emptiness.

Luffy growled. Whoever made her like that would pay.

A leopard/human stood before him.

He growled as he realized this was the weird man that had thrown him against the wall. He did some sort of strange move. It looked like he hit the ground a bunch of times with his leg.

A pigeon rested on the man's shoulder.

"Hey, Robin! Why are you with these guys?!"

"Didn't Cook-san tell you I said goodb-"

"Goodbye?!" Luffy's voice began to warp.

The pigeon guy seemed to tense up.

"Didn't you say that your life was my responsibility?! Why are you hanging out with these weirdos?!"

Robin looked a little shocked. She had forgotten how selfish Luffy was.

"Didn't you want to be with us?! I thought that you were happy!"

"I'm sorry...Luffy..." She muttered as she walked towards the hole in the wall that he had made. She was going to leave him here?!

"Enough of this. We don't have time, Nico Robin."

The pigeon guy, Lucci, rushed forward, intending on impaling Luffy.

Luffy sensed his intention and dodge the strike and started running towards Robin.

He reached forwards, almost touching her.

Lucci had recovered fast. His claw went right through Luffy's chest, splattering Robin with his blood.

Luffy stared into her eyes. She was shaking. Her eyes filled with fear, but there was also a familiar feeling.

He could see rage.

"R-Robin..." He raised his hand, almost touching her face.

She looked like she wanted to raise her hand too, but she just turned around and jumped out, beyond his reach.

* * *

He was sent flying out of the room. He hurtled through the air until he landed between two buildings, trapping him.

Luffy didn't know how long he had been there, but his world had blurred, his thoughts weren't clear.

Revenge was something on his mind, but it was diminished by the sorrow he felt.

Robin had stood there and watched him get stabbed. She didn't do anything.

He felt betrayed.

* * *

Zoro was barely able to get Nami, Iceburg and that shipwright, Paulie out of the building before it exploded.

Paulie had barely managed to tell him about the firebombs before the building exploded.

Zoro didn't know what to feel about Robin, but one thing was clear.

He needed to find Luffy. Wherever he had gone, Zoro would find him.

"Nma, let me down." Zoro flinched in surprise as he dropped Iceburg.

Iceburg grunted in pain as he hit the ground.

"A little bit more gentle next time, yeah?" He sat up and looked up at Zoro.

"You're part of the Straw Hats?"

"Yeah, I am. Do you know where Robin is?"

Zoro could feel Nami waking up, so he set her down.

"I know where she'll be." Iceburg waited for Nami to wake up before he started explaining Nico Robin's motives.

* * *

Sanji watched Robin board the sea train with a bunch of people in black outfits.

He thought that the blonde woman was really cute, but she was nothing compared to Robin-chan!

The weirdest thing about all of this was that they had Ussop with them. Another guy with weird blue hair had been forced into the ship as well.

Sanji sighed. How did he get mixed up in all of this?

He only hoped Nami-swan got his message.

* * *

Robin put her head in her hands. She was on board the Puffing Tom, the sea train that led to Enies Lobby.

She thought of all the times she had spent with her crew.

"_Well, I'm glad that you're alive!" _

Luffy's words still made her feel happy inside.

Lucci hadn't apologized for hurting Luffy. She was close to snapping his neck, but she couldn't.

Not when they had Chopper.

_"I want you to live." _

Those simple words he had told her when he had saved her. He really was a selfish guy...

Tears began to fall from her eyes.

_"You better take responsibility, Luffy." _

"_Didn't you say that your life was my responsibility?!"_

He still remembered. He had tried his best to convince her to return to him.

She had coldly walked away from him. Her heart felt like it split in two as she saw him shake in pain and despair.

Robin had to return the favor. Her life was his and she was using it to support him still. Chopper was going to go through so much more if she didn't do this.

Robin hoped one day, Luffy would understand.

_"I promise, I'll protect you. I won't let the World take anything away from you ever again." _

"I'm sorry, Luffy..." She muttered as she tried to hide her tears.

She had never felt this alone before.

* * *

The storm was getting worse. Tidal waves smashed into the city of Water 7, demolishing buildings and ruining houses.

Nami and Zoro traveled together. Zoro said he thought he knew where Luffy was. He led them to where he said he felt Luffy's presence.

They had gone all over the place.

Robin had already gotten on the train to Enies Lobby! Where was Luffy?!

The two ran into Kokoro and Chimney. They were high enough to not be hit by Aqua Laguna's strong waves.

They were going to ask why they were there, but decided against it.

"Hey, what's that over there?!" Chimney exclaimed as she pointed towards a couple of buildings.

They saw a familiar person smashed between the two buildings.

Nami hugged Chimney and dragged Zoro to where Luffy was.

He wouldn't be very happy when he learned why Robin had done all of this.

* * *

Luffy wallowed in his grief.

He wondered what his crew would think of him if they saw him.

"Luffy!" Nami was here?

"You moron! What are you doing up there?!"

"Nami? Is that you?"

"Luffy?! Where have you been?! While you were stuck here, Robin's sacrificing herself for us!"

What?

"Chopper was kidnapped, so she's going to trade her life for his!"

Luffy's eyes darkened.

"They're already on their way to Enies Lobby, Luffy! Hurry up! We have to go rescue them!"

Cracks appeared in the buildings that surrounded Luffy.

His eyes glowed red. His skin turned white.

"THAT IDIOT!"

Nami and Zoro were both surprised when Luffy practically demolished the entire city by just pushing the two buildings apart.

He roared, causing even more destruction. The remains of the building collapsed around him.

"Let's go!" He wrapped one arm around them while he sent the other one forward, grabbing onto a building.

Aqua Laguna's tidal wave was almost upon them.

"I told her to not do this sort of thing! That's it! I've decided!" Luffy growled as he rocketed them away from the wave, towards safety.

"Robin's not allowed to leave us! I won't let her!"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! **

**I cleaned up this chapter a little, but please let me know if something seems a little off!**


	16. Revenge is Bittersweet

**Hello everyone! Here's the Enies Lobby Arc! Hope you all enjoy!**

**Warning - it's different from the original arc. Almost completely different, anyways. **

**If everyone hates it, I guess I'll rewrite it following Canon. This was just an experiment to try something different. **

**I'll keep the poll in my profile up for a few more days.  
**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda**

* * *

"Hey! Nami! Where were you?! I thought we needed to get moving right away?!"

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were currently located in the Sea Train Station. Kokoro had offered to run the sea train, Rocket Man, the only thing that would get them to Enies Lobby. Iceburg had set it up for the Straw Hats. He didn't want to say it, but these pirates had given him hope.

He had wanted to strike back at the World Government for so long after what they had did to Tom.

Nami had disappeared, saying she needed to pick some stuff up. She came towards the Rocket Man with a huge sack. It was being pushed in a cart by two older men.

"Sorry! I just needed to pick something up!" Nami looked tired. She had been running all day.

"I thought you said there was no time?! What's in it anyway?!"

She started to turn towards Luffy, "Meat an-"

Nami saw Luffy and Zoro digging through the bag already. Zoro looked giddy as he pulled the alcohol out and Luffy shoved bundles of meat into his mouth.

"I'm sorry that I was angry!"

* * *

The train was now running. They were headed for Enies Lobby.

The Franky Family had followed them with their King Bulls. They had all begged Luffy for a ride. Their boss, Franky, had been taken from them and they needed to save him.

Luffy hated them with every fiber of his being, but he relented. The Franky Family was just doing what they could do for their own family. He respected that.

Some Galley-La shipwrights had also snuck aboard the train. They had wanted revenge for Iceburg.

Luffy stood outside the Rocket Man. Zoro was next to him.

In their path, the giant tsunami of Aqua Laguna was coming right for them.

"How much is 2 times 108?"

"216."

The Franky Family and the Galley-La shipwrights tried to stop the wave by shooting it with various weapons, but nothing worked. The wave towered over the Rocket Man.

"That's too hard to pronounce." Luffy started to punch the air, his fists becoming faster with each swing.

Zoro got into his position, he had both swords in his hands over his head and the one in his mouth pointed to the right.

"Just change it then."

Luffy's skin turned white, and his arms turned black.

"300."

"Alright."

"Gum Gum..."

"Santoryu:..."

"...Sanbyaku Pound Cannon!" Their attacks combined into one.

The tremendous force generated blew a hole straight through Aqua Laguna and the Rocket Man passed by without stopping.

Luffy clenched his fists tighter and listened to the passengers cheering for their strength.

Zoro looked over at Luffy. He saw what Ussop had meant when he had turned his arms black.

"How do you do that?" He started to sheathe his swords.

"I will myself to hit something, and this makes me hit it harder."

Luffy's hand returned to its white color.

"Really? Sounds really difficult." Zoro muttered sarcastically.

He thought Luffy was the simple one, not the cryptic one.

* * *

"You want ramen?!"

"N-"

"I'll make you ramen! Remember, my nose hairs are like a woven net!"

The strange slug eyed man ate a bunch of dough and spat ramen noodles out of his nose, adding hot water as he did so.

"Enj-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Sanji, "Sogeking", and Franky were busy demolishing the cars on the Puffing Tom.

Robin was only a few cars ahead! All they had to do was get past freaks like these!

* * *

Luffy rocketed towards the unknown train car in front of them.

The Rocket Man group watched as he entered the car.

"What do you think it is?"

"Knowing Luffy's luck, it's-"

Luffy came out of the cart. His arms were in an X position and bullets were bouncing off his body.

"Yep. Filled with dangerous people."

* * *

Ussop and Sanji laid before Blueno and Robin.

They had gone through so many enemies, just to fall here?!

Robin had even helped the government bastards! She had disabled Usso – Sogeking.

"You should have had more faith in Luffy." Sogeking said as he looked into Robin's eyes.

He had already made that mistake, but he was trying his best to make amends.

Robin stared back.

She looked away, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. It was part of my deal with them." She started to walk through Blueno's air door.

"Tell Chopper I'm sorry. I hope he was treated well."

Blueno tensed up.

"Chopper? You know where he is?!" Sogeking shouted as he tried to stand up.

Robin turned suddenly, eyes wide.

"You don't have Chopper back?"

Blueno shoved Robin through the door, closing it just as Sanji had almost kicked him.

He tried to subdue Robin, but found black arms holding him still.

Robin looked into his eyes, her own glowing red as her skin turned pale.

"What did he mean by that?!"

"It means that we betrayed you." Robin tried to form more arms, but seastone handcuffs wrapped around her wrists.

Lucci shoved her into a train seat.

"The World Government is too interested in his Human Human Fruit."

Robin shook in fear as she realized what he had meant.

"He'll stay in the Enies Lobby Facility for a while before moving on to Marine Headquarters, where he'll be experimented on for the rest of his short life."

* * *

Luffy stared at the large building with the words, Enies Lobby on its side.

They had arrived. The others were inside, still discussing how they would attack.

Focusing, Luffy used his haki/mantra thingie to try to search for Robin.

There! Luffy's face turned demonic.

She's right there! She's headed towards the building! He could make it!

But...he could also sense Chopper?

Chopper was only a little farther away. He was just in that-

A tall, bare building stood out from all the rest. Its gray walls illuminated by the endless sun above.

He jumped away from the Rocket Man, arms grabbing its side.

Giving a roar filled with rage, he launched himself towards the big gates.

Inside, Luffy had prayed Chopper wasn't inside that building. That it was a mistake!

He landed in front of these huge gates.

Without waiting, he jumped at the gates, hand cocked back.

The gates flew off their gigantic hinges. The doors landing on many of the marines.

He was now on a bridge of stone that led to the main area.

Two giants stood in his way. They raised their weapons.

Luffy bounced off the ground and gave off another warped roar.

They stumbled, as if something had pushed against them.

Luffy coiled his arm back and grabbed one of the giants with his other arm. They were speaking, but Luffy wouldn't listen.

He rocketed forward, his arm drilling into one of the giant's chest.

The giant's eyes rolled up into his head as he lost consciousness. The other one stared in shock.

He turned towards the other one and used a "Gum Gum Spear" to send his legs into his stomach.

After it had connected, he followed his legs as they returned to normal, leaving two of his hands behind.

Air shifted from behind the giant as the "Gum Gum Bazooka" hit him with the full force of a furious Luffy.

The giant's head shot up from being hit by a "Gum Gum Stamp" and his body was brought down by a "Gum Gum Axe".

The marines stared in fear at the darkened figure as its foot was imbedded into the Gate Guards chest.

The demon's head was down, hiding its face in shadows, but its eyes glowed crimson red.

Many of them were knocked unconscious as the demon rose its head, its great maw of razor sharp teeth wide open as it let loose another shout.

"Come on, men! It's only one-"

Luffy shot forwards, twisting through the air.

"Gum...Gum..." His twisted voice sounded as though he was the devil himself.

"...Storm!"

Fists demolished the marines as Luffy continued forward, using his fists to move across the ground by pulling down a bit as his fists hit the ground.

Hundreds of men were smashed into the ground, either dead or wishing they were.

"Where is Robin!?" Luffy screamed as he continued towards where he had felt her presence.

He could hear his heart beating intensely within his body.

It just grew faster and faster! It felt like it would explode, but Luffy wouldn't quit! He actually tried to make it pump more power into him! He needed more! More power!

Steam burst forth from his skin, making his punches disappear as they moved beyond their limits.

Nothing was going to stop him! He would take her back! He needed her help!

He needed to know why Chopper was here!

* * *

Lucci and the other CP9 agents paused.

Franky looked confusedly at them. They had been calm before, but now they seemed tense.

He looked over at Robin and felt sorry for her.

She had been tricked. They had told her that they released her friend to the Straw Hats already.

This was why he didn't trust the World Government. They were hypocritical bastards. Using "justice" to take what they wanted.

Robin looked somber and grave. Her eyes were despondent as she stared blankly in front of her.

Franky had to admit, she had impressed him. She was a strong woman, but it looked now like she was crumbling.

Something shook the ground, making Franky stumble. He had to catch Robin as she almost fell over.

The CP9 bastards were able to stand straight as they looked behind them.

The gates they had just passed exploded in a shower of stone and dust.

Lucci was the only one who had noticed the new addition to their group.

His skin was white, but his arms and legs were pitch black. Steam came from his body as if his very blood was boiling from within.

A straw hat had been on his back. He wore a red vest with black shorts.

The man's head looked at him with his fearsome gaze.

He could only see darkness. The eyes of the monster consumed him.

The creature roared, sending Kalifa and Blueno flying away.

The pressure! It was too much!

Lucci tried to stand and glare at the creature, but then he stared again into its eyes.

He was filled with fear. The monster was a predator beyond anything he had ever seen!

Lucci's mind was being devoured! He struggled to maintain control!

Red filled his mind, he slumped to the ground.

The monster had overwhelmed them.

* * *

Franky tried to shield Robin away from the thing that had just taken out the World Government agents, but she slipped out of his grip.

"Luffy!" She practically tackled the thing. It stumbled a bit as the taller woman collided with it.

The monster wrapped his arms around Robin.

"Luffy! We need to get Chopper!" She pleaded with the beast.

'Wait...Luffy?! That's Straw Hat?!' Franky stared at the white terror in shock.

This was that skinny kid he had seen earlier?!

The monster didn't say anything. It just turned and stared at a plain looking building.

Franky had seen Robin notice the building too. She had bit her bottom lip till it bled while she shut her eyes as tightly as she could when she had first seen it.

Robin nodded and held her hands out. They had put seastone handcuffs on her earlier.

"Is there anything you could do for me?"

Luffy looked at it. He stretched his finger out and stuck it into the keyhole. He then bit into his thumb.

His finger expanded, filling the keyhole. He twisted his finger and the cuffs came off. Air escaped out from the hole he had bitten in his thumb.

Robin just looked at her hands. She looked remorseful.

Franky could hear marines approaching their position. Bullets had already started to impact near them.

"Hey, you two! We need to get going!" He broke the shackles on his arms.

CP9 had really underestimated him. Didn't he tell them already? He was feeling Super! this week.

Luffy stretched his arms out, grabbing a building that was in the direction of the bland looking one.

Robin grabbed hold of Luffy, putting her arm around his waist.

Franky grabbed Luffy's leg as he started to rocket away.

The bastard! He was going to leave him here!

* * *

The Franky Family could only look in shock and awe as they looked at the scene.

The gates that led all the way to Courthouse were broken down.

Thousands of soldiers laid on the ground, broken and defeated.

The Rocket Man ran forwards through the open gates, heading straight for the Courthouse.

Zoro, Sanji, Sogeking, and Nami were on board. They didn't know what had caused Luffy to do this, but they could only hope he recognized them.

He had practically destroyed Enies Lobby in a matter of minutes.

* * *

In an area up ahead, a pigeon sat on his master's shoulder.

He flew up a bit after his master had gotten up. He seemed to be in pain.

Hattori tried to help his master by cooing in his ear. Lucci stared into space.

Lucci transformed into his hybrid form, his growls scaring Hattori.

"Straw Hat...you'll pay for that!"

He didn't notice that his associates were regaining consciousness as he limped forward.

Lucci began to plan on how to trap Luffy into fighting with him. He wasn't going to go down without a fight again!

* * *

Franky ran after the two monsters in front of him.

Any soldier or agent they had met just dropped to the floor, unconscious. It was strange, but he thought it had something to do with Straw Hat.

They had gone inside the plain looking building. The walls were a sickening white and many doors looked like they were made to keep people trapped within.

The place freaked him out.

Luffy had stopped his growling and hissing. He was silent as he ran, hunched over, alongside Robin.

Robin was sweating. It looked like this place was freaking her out too.

He briefly compared the place and Luffy.

Nope, Luffy was still more terrifying.

The two stopped in front of a door. It was different from most of the doors as it was a stone door with a green hue.

Robin started breathing heavily. Luffy's mouth was open and Franky could swear the thing look scared.

Luffy did the same trick that he did with the handcuffs, the door swung open.

Franky felt sick as he looked around the room.

Blood was all over the floor, and some of it was even on the walls.

There wasn't much in the room, the only thing of interest was the gurney in the middle of the room.

It had some sort of brown object on it. Franky couldn't tell what it wa-

He heard a choked gasp and saw Robin with a hand to her mouth. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Something slumped next to him. Luffy had fallen to his knees, his transformation had receded.

Did they know what this thing was?

* * *

Robin stood frozen for a moment.

Her body felt weak as she stared at the gurney. The feeling of utter failure flooded through her veins.

"Chopper!" Her voice cracked as she cried out.

She had broken her promise.

Robin rushed forwards, her hands shook as she tried to hug the limp body of Chopper to her.

He felt cold, but he was breathing.

_His innocent eyes looked up into her as she answered his question. He thanked her shyly. _

Tears fell from her eyes as her knees hit the floor. Chopper didn't stir. He didn't move. He did-

His fur was matted with his own blood. It stuck to her hands and clothes.

_Chopper gleefully laughed as Robin played with him and Luffy, using her Hana Hana Fruit to tickle them. _

She hugged him tighter.

_She looked at Chopper and he looked up at her._

_A smile was on his muzzle as he happily thanked her.  
_

_He hugged her leg._

_This is what she had been searching for. _

Choked sobs escaped from her.

She lifted her head as she screamed into the cold cell. Chopper pressed firmly against her body.

Franky and Luffy didn't say anything, they were too busy trying to comprehend the scene.

Why did he have to suffer?! He was just a kid!

Robin had always wished to hold her own child. Just like this...

She buried her head into Chopper's hat. They had never taken it off and it was stained red.

* * *

Luffy had his hand raised towards Chopper and Robin as he laid on his knees.

His family...

Memories of callous doctors cutting into innocents, their screams unheard as they were vivisected.

...what did they do?

His hand shook.

Lives ruined for something as stupid as power.

What did they do to his family?!

Luffy shivered violently as he was reminded of all the tortures he had witnessed.

Chopper's limp body didn't move as Robin held him in her arms.

The blood stained the floor and walls.

The gurney that was drenched in the blood of the innocent. Of the pure.

They had violated Chopper. His friend. His family!

Luffy clutched his head and smashed it into the floor.

Too much!

His teeth began to crack as his jaw clenched.

Too much had been taken!

His arms and legs turned black, his heart became a pump and pushed the boiling blood through his veins. Steam exploded from his white skin. His mouth hung open as he begin to make choking noises.

Luffy looked up, his eyes glowed a malevolent red.

Franky had taken a few steps back. He watched as Luffy began to lose it. He glanced back into the room.

Robin had stood up, Chopper still in her arms. Black arms sprouted from her back and were wrapped around her precious friend.

She turned to leave with Chopper.

Her face was blank, her eyes wide. Tears had stained her face with a streak of liquid under each eye.

She looked broken.

Franky noticed that the gagging noises stopped. Luffy seemed to calm down after he had seen the two in the room.

He heard Luffy getting up and watched as he walked towards Robin.

Luffy was still transformed, but he walked at an even pace.

When he reached her, he put a hand on her shoulder.

Her eyes were drawn to his. He had a grim expression on his face.

"Robin. Let's get the one responsible for this."

She only nodded her head.

* * *

Zoro clashed blades with the man named Kaku in front of him.

The CP9 agents had been passed out on the ground, but they recovered quickly. They had stopped the Rocket Man from continuing. More agents had arrived to check on their status, but Zoro and Sanji managed to take care of the Zipper man and the Long Haired guy.

He looked around to see how the others were doing.

Uss – Sogeking was running away as Sanji tried to keep Blueno and Jabra away from the weaker man.

Nami was using her mirages to confuse the enemy, managing to form multiple images of her friends.

It seemed to not work on Kaku or Jabra though. They somehow knew where they had been going and even predict his attacks!

Sanji had yelled out that it was like mantra! They had to use different means to fight.

Zoro had cleared his mind, using only reflexes to attack and defend.

Kaku seemed to have trouble. He looked disoriented and he shook from the force Zoro used.

What had happened to these people?

"Take this, villain!" Sogeking yelled out.

Zoro turned to see Jabra had been connected to Sanji via seastone handcuffs.

Sogeking could be seen cheering in the background.

"What the-?! Where did you get that?!" Jabra was slowly losing strength. Sanji just looked at him carefully.

"I found it on the ground! Alright, Sanji-kun! Beat him up!" Usso – Sogeking shouted.

"Grr! Even without my Devil Fruit, I'm still-"

"Oh? You've got fight in you still? Well, let's see how you handle this."

Sanji turned rapidly for a few seconds. Jabra had been taken off guard and spun around with him.

"Diable Jambe!" Sanji's leg had caught fire.

"That's so cool!" Us – Sogeking enthused. Sanji had a transformation too?!

"Hope you enjoy this, you shitty wolf!"

"Premier Hachis!"

Sanji jumped into the air, lifting Jabra a little and sent a barrage of flaming kicks into his stomach.

Jabra tried to catch his breath, but Sanji wasn't finished.

"Don't think I forgot about you, Doorman!"

Blueno had gotten close enough to do a Shigan, but Sanji dodged and he threw Jabra into Blueno.

"Flambage Shot!"

He had hit Jabra, but the force had been absorbed by Blueno's body.

Blueno and Jabra hit the ground with a sickly thud.

"Alright, Sanji-kun!" Nami and Ussop cheered as they watched the display.

"Hey, wait a minute?! How do you get this off?!"

"Maybe they have keys on them?!" Ussop pleaded as Sanji headed towards him with murder in his eyes.

A feminine leg went through Nami's head, the air from the kick cut the building some ways away.

Nami's form shimmered and disappeared, surprising Kalifa.

"Thunder Lance Tempo!"

The lightning bolt passed through Kalifa, causing serious burns and internal damage.

She fell to the ground, her only movement being slight twitches.

"Sorry, but I'm not that weak!" Nami smirked at the fallen CP9 member.

She was so glad that she had trained with Luffy. He was immune to lightning, so she was able to perfect this move.

"And so then there was one." He faced Kaku, who had been watching as well.

"It seems so..." Kaku had gone silent and closed his eyes.

"Thanks for giving me a good match, but I'm afraid it ends here!"

Kaku had been tough to fight, but Zoro had been the better swordsman.

A dark aura surrounded Zoro as he seemed to grow four more arms and two other heads.

Kaku tried to predict how to evade the move, but found that he couldn't. The ability was still new to him, but he had figured out how to do it in a short period of time.

He predicted he would lose to this next move.

"It's been fun, Roronoa Zoro. I wish we had met under different circumstances." Kaku smiled at Zoro as he prepared to defend himself.

Even if he was going to lose, he wouldn't give up.

* * *

Spandam ran as fast as he could.

He was currently in the tunnel leading to the Bridge of Hesitation.

Something grabbed his neck! No! He wasn't supposed to die here!

"Activate the Buster Call."

His eyes widened when he heard that voice.

"Lucci?"

* * *

What had he gotten himself into now?

Franky could only ask himself this question over and over again.

He was asked by Luffy who was responsible for this whole thing.

Franky gladly told him about Spandam, and how he was the chief of the CP9. He was in the Tower of Justice.

Luffy tore through the wall, making an exit to the outside.

Robin silently followed. Chopper still in her arms. One of her hands was in Luffy's as he led her away from the Facility.

Train noises could be heard from the outside.

Franky ran outside. He saw the Rocket Man heading towards the Tower of Justice.

"Bro!"

Turning towards the cheers, he saw the Franky Family.

He started crying loudly.

"Damn you! Who the heck asked you to come rescue me?!"

* * *

Luffy held Robin's hand in his as he jumped onto the train with her.

"Hey! Luffy! There yo- what?! You have Robin?! Chopper?! What's he doing here?!"

He could hear Ussop's voice. He had played along with Ussop as he tried to disguise himself.

Ussop couldn't hide his presence. Luffy had memorized all of his family's auras.

"Keep the train headed straight!" He shouted.

"Franky! Are you still going to help us?!"

Franky had agreed to lower the drawbridge.

"Yeah, Straw Hat! Make sure you make that bastard pay!" Franky was smiling.

His own family had come for him! This was turning out to be a Super! Day!

Aside from the whole being kidnapped and fear of getting ripped to shreds by the most terrifying monsters he had ever seen.

"Everyone!" Luffy addressed his crew, "We're going to the Tower of Justice! There's a man there that I want to kill!"

"Blunt as ever, Luffy?" "Chopper! What happened?!" "Who did this to Chopper?!"

Zoro didn't say anything as he looked at Chopper's broken body in Robin's arms.

Whoever it was that did this, he would find out what it was like to mess with them like this.

* * *

The Straw Hats had arrived at the Tower of Justice. There were some marines left, but they were no match for them.

"Luffy? Who are we after?! How are we supposed to get out of here?" Nami demanded. Why were they still here?! Why was this revenge so important?!

"We're after the chief of CP9, Spandam. He did this to Chopper."

Chopper still remained unresponsive in Robin's arms. Robin herself had not changed much, still having a blank face as she followed the others.

Nami wondered if she was even conscious as she had her head down and blindly followed Luffy.

As they made their way through the marines, explosions shook the building.

"What now?!" Sogeking was getting tired. He had actually fought a lot of battles. He had even convinced the giants Luffy had knocked down to switch sides!

None of them knew that Enies Lobby was being bombarded with cannonballs. The main island was being destroyed and the Tower of Justice was next.

* * *

The Straw Hats made their way through the underground passage.

Luffy had said that he had felt two unique presences. The Straw Hats wanted to comment on what he meant by that, but they trusted him.

Luffy knocked the doors down at the end of the passage. They were now in a huge circular room.

A man stood in front of the double doors ahead.

"Pigeon guy." Luffy stated as he walked in front of the group. Something felt off about him.

"Straw Hat Luffy. I'm impressed from earlier, but things will be different..."

Lucci turned into his hybrid form. He towered above the Straw Hats.

"Zoro!" Luffy looked over to Zoro and held Robin's hand out to him.

"Take everyone and get past this guy! I'll try to stop him!"

Zoro nodded and took Robin's hand.

"Hey! You don't expect to take this guy o-"

"Sogeking, leave it." Sanji took a drag from his cigarette before tossing it away.

"As it is, we would just get in Luffy's way." He watched Luffy transform, his new form had made him a little surprised, but he recovered quickly.

This was Luffy. He was full of surprises.

* * *

Steam burst forth from Luffy's body as he rocketed towards Lucci, who had a sanguine grin on his face.

Lucci had wanted this! A chance to crush the hopes of these pirates and to fight!

It had been a while since he had a worthy battle.

Luffy's fist disappeared as it was sent towards him, but he was able to dodge.

He didn't know why, but he was able to sense it before it had hit him. Trusting in his instincts, he grabbed the arm and pulled Luffy over to him.

Despite the strength he had felt in the arm, it went lax as the arm stretched more, making Lucci stumble a bit. Luffy took this chance to rocket into his side.

Lucci had used Tekkai, making his body tougher as Luffy hit him, doing almost no damage. He brought his hand up and used Shigan with his claws.

The claw went straight through Luffy's body, blood erupting from his back like a small geyser. Lucci grinned wider.

It turned into a grimace when he realized Luffy had left a hand behind, coiling it as he did so.

The fist came forward and Lucci prepared another Tekkai.

He didn't expect Luffy to have his own claws. Drilling into his body, Luffy's pushed Lucci to the side, sending him into a wall, blood trailing his flight.

Luffy was hunched over as blood leaked from his wound. He was growling as he watched Lucci stand up.

Both of them panting, they prepared to rush each other again.

* * *

The Straw Hats had started running as soon as the fight began. Being there any longer would hinder Luffy.

They passed Luffy up as he sent Lucci to the side.

"Kick his ass, Luffy." Zoro whispered to Luffy.

"Let's all go home together, Luffy!" Ussop cried as he took off his mask, no longer seeing any need to hide. He didn't want to leave Luffy to fight a monster like this!

"Be careful, Luffy!" Nami had panicked when she saw Lucci's claw go through Luffy. If there was this much damage from just the first hit, how would this turn out?

"You can do this, Luffy! We're counting on you!" Sanji had faith in his captain. If anyone could fight this guy and survive, it was Luffy.

"Don't die." Luffy glanced over his shoulder. That was the first time Robin had spoken in a while.

"Don't worry about me, everyone!" He responded to their words, "Just make sure you give them hell!"

With heavy hearts, the Straw Hats left the room.

They had their mission. All they had to do was find this Spandam guy and make him suffer.

* * *

Luffy turned back to Lucci.

Lucci's body had already healed. The hole was gone.

"Incredible, isn't it? This is the power of a Zoan. Of being one with your devil." He merely stated.

Luffy's wound had seemed to heal too. He didn't understand why.

"So what, you heal faster! I'll just beat you down more and more!"

"Such bold words!" Lucci grinned again.

This, Straw Hat Luffy, made him feel excited. This would be a fun fight.

Luffy's arm had outstretched towards him, his hand reaching for Lucci's head.

Lucci sidestepped Luffy's grasp and stabbed his fingers into the rubber arm, gouging it even more as it stretched further. Splashing Lucci with blood.

He licked his crimson stained lips. This was too good! Straw Hat was just going to launch himself into his attacks?

The arm pushed down into the claws.

Luffy used Lucci like a stand as his leg swung into Lucci's back, making a cracking noise like a whip.

The man/leopard hybrid snarled! He saw Luffy running towards him.

A hand smacked Lucci in the head, distracting him.

Luffy's hand had returned and as it went back to Luffy, it had slapped Lucci.

"Tobu Shigan "Bachi"!"

Lucci flicked the air a few times.

Compressed bullets of air flew towards Luffy.

Using his haki, he had avoided most of them.

Lucci had kept firing and predicted where Luffy would dodge to. Luffy was hit a few times and the bullets of air pierced his body, blood spouting from the new holes.

Luffy roared as he punched the air, it rushed backwards as Luffy's arm had already shot towards Lucci and returned.

Dodging the attack, Lucci jumped towards Luffy.

Expecting a head on attack, Luffy ran to meet the Zoan, his arms staying behind.

Just as Luffy's hands were about to bazooka Lucci, he jumped above Luffy and used Geppo to reach the ground next to Luffy.

Luffy tried to turn, but his bazooka left him open for a split second after using it.

A second was all Lucci needed.

His tail wrapped around Luffy's neck, holding him in the air.

"Shigan "Madara"!" Lucci's clawed hands pierced through Luffy's body multiple times in his mad barrage of claws.

Luffy received the hits, blood pouring down his body, but he wouldn't just sit there and die!

Stretching his neck a little, he tore off a bit of Lucci's tail with his teeth.

Lucci screamed in pain and moved back, the tip of his tail had been torn off.

He watched Luffy chew it a bit, gnashing his teeth loudly before swallowing.

Lucci was outraged! He wasn't something that was eaten! He was the predator here!

It changed to amusement as he watched Luffy cough up blood and stumble.

Lucci had forgotten that it was dangerous for the blood of one Devil Fruit eater to enter another.

He Ranyaku'ed Luffy into the wall, and watched as seawater drenched Luffy.

The white monster tried to stand up, but he was still weakened from consuming the tail piece and the power of the sea.

Lucci would make sure he would suffer for his mistake.

* * *

The rest of the Straw Hats had reached the Bridge of Hesitation, watching as battleships destroyed the main island of Enies Lobby.

Sanji and Ussop wondered what had happened to Franky and his group, but had to move on.

Spandam could be seen near the other side. There were battleships surrounding the bridge.

Soldiers cascaded down upon them! The Straw Hats had tried to fight them off, but found out the hard way that these weren't normal soldiers.

* * *

Kitetsu had never felt more alive!

It was constant battle after battle! This was the best!

His master had even felt connected to it! Like they were one! It was exhilarating!

The master turned to face this one weird man with a cloth hanging in front of his mouth. Kitetsu wanted to cut the man!

Yubashiri was swung instead, and the man caught it.

Shock filled Kitetsu as it watched its comrade rust completely, ending in almost an instant.

What?

Yubashiri's aura had disappeared almost immediately, like it had never existed.

Kitetsu felt nothing for a second.

Blood thirst spilled from the blade and its master flinched a little.

This bastard! Kill! Kill! Kill!

* * *

Zoro didn't have much time to think, the man was already coming towards him with his arms out to grab Zoro.

He swung Kitetsu reflexively.

A smirk adorned the man's face as he thought he would rust this blade too.

Terror filled the man as Kitetsu got closer.

He didn't understand why he couldn't use his power as Kitetsu cleaved right through him.

His body hit the ground in two pieces.

Kitetsu hadn't calmed down. Zoro could still feel the insane bloodlust from the blade.

Was this the curse?

It was less of a curse and more of a mirror.

Yubashiri was now dead. He sheathed its corpse and picked up a sword from the battleground.

He looked around for Robin, he started to panic when he couldn't see her.

Black arms erupted from all of the marines, surprising the Straw Hats.

* * *

Robin walked forwards as most of the marines were ripped into chunks.

Her destination laid before her. Spandam was getting closer and closer...

Chopper still had not moved. His breathing had gotten shallower if anything.

"You think you'll get out of this alive, Nico Robin?! I have the authority of the admirals on my side! You're against the Buster Call! What makes you think that you and your tools will survive?!"

She looked blankly at Spandam, and then turned to look at one of the battleships around the bridge.

Black arms from her back got into the position she would use if she wanted to concentrate.

A bead of sweat made its way down Robin's temple, but she payed it no mind.

This would take a lot of concentration, but from what Hana had told her...

Rose petals formed above the battleship.

...then all she had to do was use her imagination and willpower, right?

A massive black arm formed in the air and smashed the battleship into tiny pieces.

Spandam had a stupid horrified look on his face.

He looked back to Robin and found that she was only a few feet away from him.

Her blank look terrified him and he fell to the ground on his back, begging for mercy.

She knelt in front of him, going between his legs.

Robin had turned Chopper so that he would face Spandam.

Black arms shot out from her back and started to dig into the man's body.

He screamed as his insides were ripped out! His organs were being removed from his body!

Blood splattered the ground around him as she ripped him apart. Arms had formed to keep the blood away from Chopper.

Trying to get up, Spandam saw arms had held his body to the floor as he was slowly eviscerated.

Before he died, he noticed that the reindeer had his eyes opened.

His stare was just as blank as his guardian's as he had witnessed the disembowelment.

* * *

Luffy rocketed into Lucci, sending them both up to the upper level.

He had a few more cuts on his body, but the other wounds had slowly healed, steam rising from them.

Lucci couldn't believe this! How was this man healing?!

Luffy charged at him again, and Lucci sent another barrage of Shigans at him.

For a minute, the two lost all sense as they hit their opponent, trying their best kill the other!

Luffy was stabbed, but he pulled Lucci in and punched his face.

Lucci kicked Luffy as he tried to pull his hand back. Luffy had a death grip on the hand that had impaled him.

Luffy's grip was strong! If he couldn't get away from him-

He predicted a hundred arms coming at him.

Taking the opportunity, he ripped his hand free.

Using Soru, he dodged them all.

Looking to where he felt Luffy, he saw him staring in his direction.

Luffy disappeared.

'He knows Soru?!'

Lucci's thoughts were interrupted as a foot launched him to the wall.

He looked back up.

A gigantic fist slammed into his body, sending him through the wall and onto a battleship.

Gasping in pain, he tried to hold onto consciousness. The hits were too powerful...

Luffy used the air from his enlarged fist to rise above the ship.

"..Jet..." The warped voice sounded strained as he built up power in his arms.

Before Lucci had predicted a hundred fists.

This seemed like thousands.

"...Rain!" Luffy roared as he demolished the battleship.

Lucci used a combination of Soru and Geppo to reach Luffy's position.

He changed into leopard form and bit deeply into the rubberman's shoulder.

Boiling blood met his mouth and he released Luffy in pain.

He felt Luffy grab his face and throw him back into the tower.

Lucci struggled to stand.

He wasn't going to let this man beat him!

Luffy appeared before him. He was shaking as he took slow steps toward Lucci.

Lucci noticed steam rising from the bite marks and the wounds closed.

"The heat you produce in your body...it melts your body so that your wounds knit together, doesn't it?"

He felt more respect towards the rubberman now.

Luffy must have been going through a world of pain.

What drove him so far?!

'That doesn't matter!' Lucci thought as he felt willpower surge through his body.

Straw Hat would not win this fight!

* * *

Luffy stopped as he felt something he had never experienced before.

The steam stopped rising from his body and his transformation receded.

What hap-?

Lucci grabbed him with his tail and Luffy looked right at Lucci.

He had his hands positioned so that one fist was over the other fist which was reversed.

"Rokuogan!"

Blood exploded out Luffy's back as the force from the attack tore him open.

His insides ruptured as he was dropped to the floor.

Luffy's head hit the ground with a wet smack.

* * *

Robin felt Chopper shift in her grip.

She lifted him and looked into his face.

His eyes stared blankly at her while she looked shocked.

Despair began to run rampant within her.

Until tears fell from Chopper's eyes as he kept his stare.

It was replaced by an agonizing sorrowful look.

"Robin!"

He buried his head in her shoulder.

"Robin! Robin! Robin!..." He wailed as tears flooded down his cheeks.

She could only hold her arms out beyond Chopper as he cried.

"I was so scared! I thought everyone had left me!" He choked on a sob and continued crying.

Her own tears started to fall.

"It's alright now, Chopper." She held him closer and stayed kneeling on the bridge with Chopper.

The two cried as the other Straw Hats slowly approached.

"It's alright...don't worry! I'm here..." Robin tried to smile, just so she could remind herself that everything was alright.

"I'm here...!"

* * *

Lucci panted and watched as Luffy tried to crawl, but instead he had spat up a copious amount of blood.

He didn't know why it had affected the rubberman so much, but that power he had felt!

It was the same one that had overwhelmed him earlier!

It was ironic that the power the rubberman used to protect his friends was the same one that would take them away from him.

"I'm amazed at what you were able to do, Straw Hat, but it ends here."

Luffy attempted to lift himself up, but slipped on his blood and fell back to the ground.

"Your friends will die."

_The Going Merry with all of his friends._

_Zoro smirked and looked at him with respect. He had earned it through his actions._

_Nami smiled as she tended to her orange trees. Finally free from the nightmare she had been trapped in._

_Ussop laughed and continued to tell him stories. Someone had believed that he could be strong._

_Sanji grinned as he ate all of his food. Being allowed to live his life. _

_Chopper shouting in awe and excitement as he listened to Ussop. Happy that he had the family he always wanted._

_Robin smiling as she watched them all. Feeling free for the first time._

"That reindeer will return to the Facility, where we will learn how to reproduce his Devil Fruit's effect."

_Chopper's innocence. How he always laughed and played with him._

_Smoke rose from his body, the acid still trying to consume him and the mess of brown fur he held in his hands._

_Chopper on a gurney. Blood everywhere as he laid there motionless. _

"And Nico Robin will go to Marine Headquarters, where we will use all of her knowledge and experience."

_Robin's smile. How she always cared for the others. _

_Her figure in a beam of light. Her words of thanks._

_How she had apologized for being weak. _

"But don't worry, Straw Hat. She won't die."

_Robin, screaming as she held Chopper in her arms._

_Her tears hurt him as he watched them fall._

"It seems she was a perfect candidate for Project Genesis."

_Robin staring at him with a limp Chopper in her arms._

_Her eyes..._

_They were dead. _

Lucci had been staring at Luffy's body that laid on the floor, but now he stared at a black fist.

It crashed into Lucci's face as Luffy roared, standing next to him.

His manifestation had been instantaneous, his whole body black as steam burst from his body.

The heat reached new levels! His heart pumped faster and faster!

Luffy moved into his fist, his thunderous howl continued as Lucci stood in the same place, Luffy's fist grinding into it slowly as the world seem to pause.

As if he had a comet strike him, Lucci flew into the wall, it splintered from the impact.

He was crushed against the wall as fist after fist crashed into him. It had felt like he was being hit at least a hundred times at once.

Luffy screamed as he felt like his heart was exploding.

Stop?! Now?! No!

He never let up, Lucci kept being pushed further into the wall.

This man wanted to take his family away from him! He would hurt! He would die!

Luffy's arms were more than just blurs, they couldn't be seen as he smashed them against Lucci.

The red glow in his eyes intensified as Lucci became unrecognizable due to the blood flying through the air.

Luffy grabbed onto Lucci with one of his hands, claws biting into the soft flesh.

He chomped into his thumb as he flew towards Lucci, almost tearing it off.

Blowing as much air as he could within his fist, he roared one final time.

Before he slammed the massive black fist into Lucci's unconscious body.

* * *

They started running back to where Luffy was fighting Lucci. The warships had already destroyed the bridge leading back to the building, but they needed to get Luffy and make a quick escape!

"Hey, everyone! Look!" Ussop pointed towards the building Luffy had stayed in.

A gigantic black fist had gone through the side of it, making most of the building's insides open to the world.

They only thought Luffy was capable of such a thing. It was confirmed by the marines as they informed their troops via loudspeakers.

"Everyone! Get on the shi-"

Nami was forced from her position on the convoy ship's railing as it was destroyed by another battleship.

Zoro caught her awkwardly, swords moved so they wouldn't cut her.

"You bastard! Why did you catch me?!" She screamed and hit Zoro.

He had scared her with his blades.

"What the hell?! Would you rather fall in the sea?!" He dropped her to the ground, but she had her feet touch it first.

He wondered where the perverted cook was. Normally, he would've caught Nami.

"All battleships! Fire at the first platform!"

The words made the Straw Hats panic. They looked to see that Luffy standing near the edge of the building. Blood cascaded down his form, a pool had already formed beneath him.

"Luffy! Come on over here! Use "Gum Gum Rocket" like you usually do!" Ussop pleaded with Luffy.

The battleships already had their guns pointed in Luffy's direction.

Luffy looked at his family as fire erupted around him.

He thought he heard Ussop yelling something.

"Look below! I've come to take you home!"

Luffy didn't recognize the voice, but he did recognize the arms that pushed him off towards the sea.

He hit the ocean with a splash, and he started to choke on the sea water.

Luckily, someone had lifted him and Robin with Chopper in her arms.

It was Sanji! He had laid Robin down on the strangely familiar ship and had thrown him on board.

The world got blurry as he tried to stand up, but he fell to the deck.

The Going Merry?! Where did it come from?!

Luffy was beginning to black out. That "Rokuogan" thing had really torn him up.

Before he passed out, he saw Robin smiling at him.

That was good...

...he didn't want to see that dead look anymore...

* * *

Aokoji leaned back in his lawn chair. The ship he was on drifted slowly atop the waves.

It was nighttime. The day after the Enies Lobby incident.

That was a disgraceful defeat, but one that Aokoji accepted.

It was now a good idea to not mess with Straw Hat Luffy with anything lower than a Vice Admiral. He rampaged on Enies Lobby and took out most of the soldiers posted there within the first few minutes.

He laughed as he remembered the look on Luffy's face as he tried to protect Nico Robin from him.

That one would go far! If he didn't die, of course.

A gigantic man sat next to him. He had brought his own chair and some alcohol.

Aokoji didn't mind. He could use a drink right now.

And looking at the other man, he sure could use one as well.

"Kuzan! It's been a while since we've talked."

"That it has, Garp."

Aokoji poured himself a drink. Luckily, Garp brought more than one bottle as he already emptied one.

They stayed silent while they drank. None of them wanted to say anything first.

Finally, Garp sighed. Something he had done a lot of recently.

The normally cheerful and happy "Hero of the Marines" had changed.

He always had dark circles around his eyes. Garp never grinned as widely anymore.

"How do you deal with it, Kuzan? This guilt..."

Aokoji took another sip of his wine.

At least Garp had brought the stuff he liked.

"Not well. I had already killed off my past before the Ohara incident."

Garp respectfully stayed silent. He knew Aokoji never liked to talk about Ohara.

"Eventually, it will pass, Garp. It will be replaced by a numbness and regret far greater than anything you'll probably ever feel."

"I see..."

Garp downed another bottle.

"He's gotten much stronger."

Garp stopped drinking to look down at Aokoji.

"Bwahahaha! Is that so?" Garp sighed again.

"Is he happy?"

Aokoji saw that terrible glint in Garp's eyes. He had seen it himself many times before.

After all, that's the same look that reflected off any mirror he looked into.

"He's happy, Garp. Your grandson has found a family of his own."

Garp grinned woefully.

"That's great!"

Garp got up to get more liquor. Aokoji was surprised.

He had already finished off all of it. Even the wine he had brought. It was Aokoji's turn to sigh.

Really...that Monkey family really did know how to consume everything.

Aokoji heard a scraping noise and turned to see Garp dragging a person sized gourd.

Looks like it was going to be another long night.

"Tell me, what did you think of him?" Garp asked as he sat down next to Aokoji once more, already popping the top off the gourd.

"At first I thought he was pretty stupid looking." Aokoji made sure he had his guard up as he knew this would set Garp off.

Garp had tried to hit him, the air exploding where Aokoji's head used to be.

"That's my grandson you're talking about! Don't you make fun of him!"

This extreme example of how Garp acted when his grandson was insulted was a new addition that Garp had gained years ago.

Aokoji used to hear Garp talk about his grandson a lot 10 years ago. Now, he never talked about him.

'He must have already been drinking.' He thought as he watched Garp glare at him from his sitting position.

"Then I thought he was interesting. Did you know that his level of manifestation is nearly perfect?"

Garp paused, then he started to laugh.

"Bwahahaha! Really? What did I tell you?! He's a strong little kid! Bwahahaha..."

Garp started to look depressed again.

"When's the last time you saw him, Garp?" Aokoji relaxed. It looks like he wasn't going to die today.

He didn't hear an answer for almost 10 minutes. As he waited, Aokoji sipped his wine.

"...10 years ago, Kuzan." Garp's head was down. His eyes were shadowed.

"Absolute Justice...it can drive a man mad, you know?"

Garp clenched his teeth and Aokoji thought that he was going to actually show how mad he had become.

"Don't remind me, Kuzan. I was forced to let my grandson suffer through that hell..."

Garp started shaking, which actually made the ship start shaking. Sounds of complaints could be heard from within the ship.

Every Facility Garp had ever encountered discovered that Garp really didn't like them.

One time, he had even destroyed an island due to their cruelty.

"And I was forced to see my daughter hunted down for 20 years, Garp." Aokoji said, trying to calm Garp down.

He stopped and looked back up at Aokoji.

This was the first time he had ever seen tears in the man's eyes.

"You actually did something though. Your lazy justice? Kuzan, you give yourself away too much. Even I caught on when you said that you would catch Nico Robin, and then take 20 years to confront her." He lifted the gourd and downed what seemed like half of it in one swig.

"This World is looking more twisted every day, Kuzan." Garp got up and took his gourd with him.

"You know, I think I'll go meet him anyway! Maybe he'll remember me..." He called out as he departed.

Aokoji sighed as he looked to his glass of wine.

The glass had broken from Garp's rage.

And to think that this night was going so well...

* * *

**I'll tell the truth. I was kind of out of it several times during the making of this chapter.  
**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed!**


	17. The World's Cruelty

**Hello everyone! Here's another chapter!**

**Fell asleep several times during the making of this, so be sure to let me know if something's wrong!**

**Skypiea has been combined into one chapter. I tried renaming all the chapters to reflect which arc they were, but there's a little problem with renaming them. Had to reupload all the other chapters by deleting them and reposting them. **

**Hope you all enjoy! I'm afraid I completely messed up Franky's personality. Out of all of the Straw Hats, he's the one I have the most trouble with. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

Luffy awoke to the sounds of cheering. Chopper stood over his body.

"Luffy!" The little furred reindeer hugged his captain. He was crying, but Luffy didn't know why.

"Chopper?! What's wrong?! Are you okay?!" Luffy began to panic.

Was he alright?! What happened at the Faci-

"I'm fine, you idiot!" Chopper tried to dance a little in happiness, but he kept hugging his captain.

"We got away! The Going Merry saved us!"

Luffy remembered. The Going Merry had showed up suddenly and carried them away.

"The marines just gave up! They wouldn't shoot at us because they didn't want to hurt Robin!"

Luffy had a feeling that it wasn't only Robin they didn't want to fire at.

"Hey, everyone!" Chopper ran off. Luffy tried getting up, but his body felt heavy.

"Luffy's awake!"

"He's finally awake?! I thought it was going to take days for him to recover!"

The voices of his family could be heard approaching.

"Alright! I knew he was going to survive!"

"Shut up, Ussop! You had cried your eyes out when you saw how injured he was!"

Looks like Ussop had decided to not hide behind his mask.

"I'm also glad that Luffy is alive as well, Long Nose-kun. I thought his insides were going to spill out."

"Ah! Don't say that! That brings back bad memories!"

Robin sounded much better. She was even joking now. Nami was with her.

"My beautiful angels! I'm so glad to have you both back ~!"

Sanji sounded funny. He must have been swooning over them.

Luffy was a bit surprised when Zoro's face hovered over his.

"Ussop apologized, but I think you need to hear it yourself."

"Ah, is that so? That's great!" Luffy tried to laugh, but his chest hurt.

"Careful, Luffy. You looked pretty bad when we finally looked you over. Hell, Robin's not too far off when she said your insides looked like they were coming out."

Zoro started to move away.

"Expect Chopper to give you a speech later."

"Hey, Zoro? What are you now, my 1st mate?" Luffy whined.

Zoro chuckled.

"I think that belongs to the other monster on board. You might get a speech from her, but I doubt it."

"Hello, Luffy." "Luffy! I need to tell you something!" "Jeez, why do you always have to get so hurt?"

"Luffy! We need to talk!" "You rubber bastard! How dare you make my angels worry!"

Luffy just grinned widely.

His family was together again.

* * *

"There's a ship approaching! It looks like it's from Galley-La!" Ussop alerted the others.

Luffy got up with the help of Robin. She supported his body with a few extra limbs as they walked over to the bow of the Going Merry.

"Hey, Old Ice Guy! You came here too?!" The Galley-La crew were cheering. They were amazed at seeing the Straw Hats all together.

No one expected the Going Merry's bow to almost separate from the rest of the ship, throwing most of the Straw Hats forward.

Robin had caught everyone from falling off, but they all couldn't believe what was happening.

"Hey, Iceburg!" Luffy cried out, "Merry helped us get this far! Can't you do anything for her now?!"

"She just saved us! Isn't there anything you can do?!"

The other Straw Hats listened to Luffy's plea.

Ussop had realized that Luffy did feel the same way as him. He truly cared about the Going Merry. It was one of the reasons why he couldn't just let him go against the World Government without him.

But he had never felt it until now as his friend had begged the Mayor of Water 7 to save their friend.

"If you care so much about that ship..." Iceburg had shouted at the Straw Hats, his voice keeping a tone of respect and understanding.

"...then let her sleep already."

* * *

Luffy stood in a boat that floated near the Going Merry. The rest of his crew were standing on another boat a little farther away.

It was the captain's duty to release a crew member from their service. It was his responsibility to end Merry's suffering.

He looked over he shoulder and saw all the Straw Hats staring at him. They had pain in their eyes.

At least he wasn't alone now.

Luffy held a torch in his hands. He stared at it, confused about how it had appeared in his hands.

It was like watching someone else do it. He had lit the Going Merry on fire.

The flames worked quickly, rising and engulfing most of the ship in a matter of seconds.

"Thank you for carrying us this far...Merry." Luffy muttered as he held his head down.

He felt numb. One of his friends was dying in front of him and he couldn't do a thing about it.

He felt like he was responsible for Merry's death.

It started to snow. Luffy briefly wondered if the world was trying to put the flames out.

"I'm sorry..."

Luffy forced his head upwards. He now stared at the Going Merry.

"I wanted to carry you...just a bit further..."

"Sorry?! Sorry for what?!" Luffy couldn't stop his tears as he shouted.

Why was Merry sorry?!

"We're the ones that have to apologize, Merry! I'm not good at navigating and I crashed you into a bunch of stuff!"

The Going Merry had served them well! She had carried them all without complaint and had bested all the seas they had been on!

"Most of us are idiots and we always hurt you! Ussop tried to repair you, but he was bad at that!"

"...But I was happy..."

Merry interrupted Luffy. He just sniffed loudly as he recalled everything they did with the Going Merry.

The flames crackled and parts of the Going Merry fell off, burning into a crisp.

Luffy couldn't imagine a more worse death for such a loyal and kind friend.

"...Thank you for...taking such good care of me..."

Merry's voice was slowly fading away. The only part that wasn't consumed by the flames was the bow of the ship.

Luffy swore he could see the figurehead smile at him. The flames slowly obscured it from view.

"...I...was...really...happy..."

Merry's voice cut off suddenly. Luffy could hear his family crying behind him.

"MERRY!"

Iceburg was wrong.

The World had taken one of his family away from him.

Merry's remains slowly sank into the cold, dark, and lonely ocean depths.

* * *

Robin laid in the bed that she had slept in for the past 2 days.

They had all been pretty tired, and unfortunately, only had enough money for one two bed room.

Chopper had shared the bed with her. He was still injured from his experience at the Facility.

Guilt filled her. She couldn't keep her promise and now Chopper had paid for it.

She looked at her hands.

They were scarred from the burns she had received when she pushed Luffy into the ocean.

She could heal the wounds with her Hana Hana Fruit...but she didn't.

They were reminders. They reminded her of her failure.

She would not let this happen again. Chopper wouldn't have to go through any of that anymore!

The World would have to kill her before she would let him be subjected to that again!

She noticed she had bitten her lip again. Blood ran down the side of her face.

Deciding that brooding wouldn't do anything for her, she sat up.

Sanji was in the room, cooking for her captain. Luffy was wide awake, being the first one to wake up.

Everyone except him had slept for 2 days.

He only slept for 3 hours. Claiming that eating meat would heal him.

Looking at Luffy, she became worried. He didn't notice as he consumed all of the food on the table.

She had to become stronger. Not only for her sake. Not only for Chopper.

But for the man that had saved her from her darkness. The man that finally freed her.

* * *

Franky was sitting down when Luffy had walked towards him. A large rectangular package sat next to him.

Taking the spot next to Franky, Luffy sat down.

"You know, those guys. I pulled them off the street. I gave them a home and a purpose in life."

Franky took a sip of the cola he held in his hand.

"They had all been hopeless fools, but I gave them their lives back. In return, they believed in me and my dream."

Franky took his glasses off, throwing them in front of him.

"Now I'm left wondering what to do now..."

What used to be the ruins of the Franky House had been replaced by a burial site.

Luffy could only assume that the Franky Family was no more. All had perished in the Buster Call.

"Straw Hat..."

Luffy looked at Franky, who stared blankly at the markers that had his friend's names on them.

"...what do you think of the World Government?"

"I am its enemy." Luffy replied, not hesitating in the slightest.

"...Is that so?" Franky opened up a compartment on his body, he pulled some papers out.

"My dream was to build a ship that would be able to cross all the seas. To be the best ship there was. Using the best material, Adam Wood, and I would sail across the world in it."

Franky held up the plans for the ancient weapon, Pluton.

"What if I were to offer one of the greatest weapons in the world to you, Straw Hat? Would you captain it?"

* * *

Nami whined as she laid her head down on the table in the room they had rented.

Everything was gone! Looters must have taken everything they had on the Going Merry.

There was a thought that made her feel sad.

The Going Merry was a miraculous ship. It had gone above and beyond what it was supposed to be capable of.

She supposed that Luffy had that effect on everything. Even inanimate objects.

Looking over to Chopper, she noticed that Robin was playing with him. He giggled as she tickled him.

Robin looked much happier...

_Robin moved forwards, a blank and broken look on her face as she followed Luffy._

Nami shook her head to rid herself of that thought.

Robin had looked dead. A walking corpse.

She was glad that she seemed to be a bit more normal, though she had developed a habit of holding Chopper or his hoof.

Nami thought it was cute. Robin looked like a mother and Chopper looked like her son.

Ussop entered the building with one of the things she had least expected to see.

He had already apologized to Luffy, who had cried and hugged Ussop. They both danced in joy as they forgave each other.

Her orange trees were being dragged in by Ussop, who looked like he had some trouble.

"Hey, Nami? Could you he-"

"My orange trees!"

Brushing past Ussop, she tackle/hugged her trees.

Tears fell from her eyes as she noticed he had brought in the gold they had gotten from their adventure in Skypiea.

They could continue their adventures!

* * *

"Nah, no thanks. I have no interest in that kind of thing." Luffy picked his nose as he stared at Franky.

"Are you sure?" Franky raised an eyebrow.

"It's very powerful. Enough to even scare the World Government."

"It's also powerful enough for the World Government to do everything they can to obtain it. They'd attack me and my crew with much stronger guys than the one I fought in Enies Lobby."

"So you don't want it because the World Government will try to take it from you?"

"No." Luffy's eyes grew dark. He stopped digging in his nose.

"I don't want it because they'll try to hurt my family. Something like that shouldn't exist."

Franky looked at Luffy with a little bit more respect.

He had come off as an incredible idiot, but he had proven himself to be an incredible idiot that did everything to protect his family.

"Heh, you're a really super guy, Straw Hat."

Fire escaped Franky's mouth and he burned the plans to a crisp.

"I bought this wood here with your money." He patted the huge package next to him.

"Really?" Luffy looked a little more interested.

"Yeah. How about I build you the greatest ship to have ever existed?" Franky gave a small grin.

"That'd be great!" Luffy smiled.

"Only if you come with us."

Franky scowled.

"What?"

"I said, only if you join my pirate crew, Franky." Luffy stared into his eyes unflinchingly.

"Why would you want me on your pirate crew? Who says I even want to join anyway?"

"Well, you're building your dream ship for me, aren't you? Didn't you say that was your dream?"

Franky turned away. He tried to keep his emotions in check.

"I said that was my dream, Straw Hat. What's the point of dreams if my family is dead?! Nothing seems to matter anymore, and I just wanted to do this one thing for you!" Franky yelled at Luffy.

"You're insulting your family."

Luffy didn't dodge Franky's fist as he hit him. Luffy didn't fly away, but it had been a good hit. Blood dripped from a cut that had formed on his head.

"What do you know?!" Franky scowl turned into a sneer as he glared at Luffy.

"I know that your family attacked Enies Lobby, intending on rescuing you. They knew that they would probably die."

Luffy stood up and returned Franky's glare with one of his own.

"But you said you gave them their lives back. You said that they believed in you and your dream! Why the hell would you let their sacrifices be in vain, Franky?! Do they mean so little to you?!"

Franky hit Luffy again, causing a little blood to splatter into the dirt.

Tears fell from Franky's eyes.

"I know that, you idiot!" Franky dropped to his knees.

"But how am I supposed to keep going?! My family was taken away from me! My friends...they all died trying to save me!"

Franky clenched his teeth and his arms hit the dirt.

"They were everything to me! I didn't give them their lives back...they gave me mine!"

Franky let the tears fall, but he didn't cry out. Luffy knelt next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Franky...I know exactly how you feel. Remember when we saw Chopper in that horrible building?"

Franky looked up and saw Luffy had his eyebrows turned up as he made a sorrowful expression.

"Chopper? You mean that little brown creature?"

"Yeah..."

"...What was that place? What did they do there?"

"That was a World Government Facility. They're all over the world. They were created to study the effects of Devil Fruits."

"And you know this how?" Franky sat down and calmed down a bit. He believed Luffy when he said that he felt the same way.

It was hard denying the pain in Luffy's eyes.

"Because I was in one once. It was my home for 6 years."

"6 years? Did you just get out recently?"

"I got out almost 4 years ago."

"...What the hell? How old are you?"

"I'm 17."

No wonder Luffy had reacted in the manner that he did.

The guy spent almost his entire life in that hellhole. He was only 7 when he had been put in the Facility.

"What kept you going through all of that?" Franky couldn't believe it.

This guy had gone through all of that for 6 years?

"My family, or rather, what I remembered of them. When I was inside the Facility, I was told that they were dead."

"The only reason I kept living was because I knew my brother would have wanted me to live."

Luffy gripped his hat and smiled a little.

Ace had always been so protective of him. He fondly remembered all the times Ace had fussed over him.

Luffy's words had an impact on Franky.

Would he really just give up? His family had given their lives because they had loved him. They believed in him.

They had wanted him to live.

"_If you're a man, do it with a Don!" _

Franky wouldn't give up! Not after all that had happened!

'Everyone, I'm going away, but don't worry,' Franky thought as he pledged to live life with a don.

'This is not goodbye! I'll see you all again one day!'

* * *

Luffy sat with Robin, Chopper, and Nami at the table they had. Sanji was cooking food for all of them.

Franky had said the ship would be done in 5 days.

He didn't know what to do during those 5 days. Maybe go out and party?

An arm appeared in front of him. It held chopsticks in its fingers and food was being offered to him.

Not wanting to waste free food, Luffy gladly accepted the food. Robin giggled in the background.

Nami sighed. Robin had gotten too attached to Luffy and Chopper. It was cute, but she really hoped it wasn't going to be like this every day.

Robin might get infected with Luffy's stupidity.

Ussop had showed up with Zoro. They burst through the door and they were sweating heavily.

"Everyone! We have to get out of here! Marines are co-"

The wall furthest away from everyone exploded. A man walked through the opening in the wall.

He was tall. Much taller than everyone in the room.

Luffy didn't notice any of this. He was too busy chewing on the chopsticks that had given him food.

Before anyone could really do anything, the man had already hit Luffy, sending him to the side.

"Ouch! What the hell?!" Luffy cried as he held his head, "That hurt!"

"What?! How could getting punched hurt you...?!" Sanji asked, more to himself.

He hadn't seen the man move.

"Bwahahaha! Nothing can stop the Fist of Love!"

"It's been a while, Luffy!"

Everyone tensed up. He knew Luffy?!

Who was this man?!

* * *

Garp laughed as he watched the Straw Hat Pirates panic.

Luffy laid on the floor still, whining about his little boo-boo.

"I've heard you've done some great things! I'm a bit proud of you, brat!"

"Who are you, Old Man?! Why did you hit me?!" Luffy still had a tear in his eye, a little tanuki was near him assessing the damage done.

Garp grinned, but he sensed an attack coming.

He looked over to see a young black haired woman crossing her burnt arms across her chest.

They turned black.

Quickly controlling himself, Garp unleashed some of his willpower upon the woman.

The woman gasped and her arms turned back to normal. He didn't use enough to cause any discomfort.

He was here to talk peacefully with his grandson.

"Old Man?! You little shit! I'm your grandfather! Don't talk to me that way!" Garp grabbed Luffy up off the ground.

"Oh no! The marines got Luffy!" The little racoon cried out.

"Wait, grandfather?!" The room shouted as well as the outside. There were a few individuals that didn't scream.

"I'll teach you to disrespect me!" Garp cocked his fist back as Luffy struggled in his grip.

The world went black as Garp felt the happiest he had been for a long time.

He had missed his grandson greatly. He was alright...

Sensing a disturbance in the air, he opened his eyes.

Luffy had hit him in the cheek and the black haired woman had kicked him in his kintama.

Luffy's fist was weak, but the woman was wearing steel-toes.

Who the hell wore steel-toed high heels?!

Garp didn't even know if they actually existed, but his world was filled with pain.

He grunted as he landed on the ground, letting Luffy go.

The woman with the steel-toes pulled Luffy away.

"H-Hold it..." Garp muttered out weakly.

"I'm here to discuss things peacefully..."

"What part of any of this has been peaceful?!"

* * *

"So, you're my grandfather?" Luffy asked as he looked at the huge man.

He said his name was Monkey D. Garp. He was really mean.

They were now sitting at the table. Garp had his men fix the hole. They had complained, but Garp wasn't in the mood.

"Yes, brat! I've already said that! I've come to say "hi"!"

"Some way to say hello..." Zoro muttered as he sheathed his swords.

He had already given Yubashiri a grave. He felt that the sword deserved one.

"Oh, hi." Luffy said as he waved at Garp.

Garp bopped Luffy on the head.

"Ouch!" "What kind of hello is that?!"

'Oh whatever.' Everyone besides the two Monkey's thought.

"Seriously, I don't remember anything about you." Luffy rubbed his head and scooted a little away from Garp.

Garp grabbed Luffy and had him sit closer.

"Really? Nothing at all? How about the time I dropped you into that bottomless ravine?"

Chopper imagined Luffy falling endlessly down a pitch black abyss, never to see light again.

"How about the time I tied you to some balloons and sent you flying in the sky?"

Zoro pictured Luffy being eaten alive by seagulls and being burnt to death by the sun.

"Oh! My favorite! Do you remember when I threw you into the forest at night?"

Robin imagined Luffy being surrounded by many hungry animals, as he laid on the ground, starving to death.

"You know...I think I know where a part of Luffy's immense will to live comes from..."

Sanji couldn't believe what he was being told. This was ridiculous.

Luffy shook his head as hard as he could. Judging by the sound of what had happened, he didn't want to remember any of it.

"I see you still have that straw hat, Luffy! How come you remember that bastard "Red Haired" and not me?!"

"Shanks is awesome, that's why! All I know about you is that you're an asshole!"

'You tell him, Luffy.' Ussop thought sarcastically as he saw Luffy getting pummeled.

""Red Haired"? Does Luffy really know that Shanks?" Robin asked Nami.

"Well, I've heard him talking about him before, why? Who is he?"

"He's one of the Yonko, the four Emperors of the sea."

Nami, Sanji, and Ussop gasped in shock. Luffy knew a guy like that?!

"I'd like you to meet some interesting people! You brats! Come on out and say hello."

Two marines had stepped forward from working on the wall.

Zoro didn't know why, but he could predict what the man with the kukri swords was going to do. He drew Kitetsu.

Luffy had already sent his fist flying into the other's face as he attempted to use Soru to get behind him.

The two marines fell to the ground. One clutched at his face as Kitetsu had cut through the knife. The purple haired one was unconscious.

"Bwahahaha! Those two trained so much, and they still can't even fight you two!"

* * *

Luffy and Zoro went outside with Coby and Helmeppo, the two marines they had beaten. Nami went oustide as well, Sanji followed.

Garp stayed inside. Robin and Chopper were with him. Ussop didn't want to be alone in the room with the crazy old guy, so he went with Luffy and Zoro.

Chopper thought the man was scary, but he also couldn't help but think the man was cool. He was too much like Luffy.

Robin had a different opinion. He was not only the "Hero of the Marines", but he had hurt Luffy.

She hoped he felt pain when she had kicked him.

Garp was currently eating the food Luffy and the others left behind. The marines had already patched up the wall.

"Oh?! This food is delicious! Who cooked it?!" Garp's voice was distorted by all the food in his mouth.

"Cook-san cooked it."

"Who the hell is Cook-san?"

"Cook-san is Cook-san."

"Oh whatever. It's great! I hope I can get some food to go!"

Robin had to be sure to tell Sanji that they couldn't cook anything for the glutton.

"E-Excuse me, Mr. Garp?" Chopper had gone up to the man who had kept eating.

"Eh? A dog? What do you want from me? This food is now mine."

"I'm not a dog! I'm a reindeer!" Chopper reflexively turned into his Heavy Point.

"Oh?! You're actually a gorilla?! That's so cool!" Garp clapped his hands and laughed.

Chopper calmed down and changed back to Brain Point. He sat next to the strange man.

"What is the Fist of Love?"

Garp stopped eating and looked at the strange gorilla/dog.

"Fist of love? Why do you want to know? You want to learn how to use it?"

"Really?! You'll teach me how to do it?!" Chopper's eyes shined.

He imagined being able to beat up the bad guys, shouting "Fist of Love!".

Garp laughed at him.

"Bwahahahaha! No!"

Chopper looked surprised, but then he looked depressed.

Robin had enough of this.

"Chopper, go outside and play with Luffy."

"Eh?! Why, Robin?!" Chopper was beginning to like Garp.

He reminded him of Luffy.

"Please, Chopper." She gave him a small smile and moved her eyebrows up a little.

Chopper pouted, but he left in a good mood. He was talking to himself about how he and the others were going to go play a game.

Garp and Robin didn't talk for a while, the only sounds being made was Garp eating the food.

"I would like to know what the Fist of Love is, Vice Admiral-san."

"Woah!" Garp choked on his food.

"I'm sorry, little girl, but I already have someone I like! I mean, I appreciate it, but you're just too you-"

"I meant how you hit Luffy." Robin had a deadpan look on her face.

"Oh..." Garp calmed down.

"I thought you would already know what it is. You did it earlier when you tried to attack me."

"That was more of a kick."

"Don't play around with me, girl. I meant when you used Busoshoku."

"Busoshoku?" This was interesting.

"What? You don't know what haki is? I saw you using it earlier." Garp stopped eating.

"I admit, I know how to use the ability, but I didn't know the name of it."

"Interesting! Where did you first learn how to do it?"

"When your grandson held me down and tried to overwhelm me."

Garp got up and rolled one of the sleeves of his shirt up.

"What?! That stupid brat did something like that?! I knew it! I have to go teach him what respect means!"

"He seemed to have tried to will me unconscious. Is that haki too?"

Garp stopped and looked at Robin more intently.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I've seen him do it several times before. It seems those weaker than him pass out. Sometimes, foam forms at their mouths."

Garp sat back down again. A focused look on his face.

"Haoshoku..."

"Haoshoku?" There was a name for this one too?

"It's the "Conqueror's Will". It's the thing I used against you earlier."

Robin thought she might finally get some answers about this strange ability.

"Really? How did that work?"

Garp was too impressed to realize he was giving away big secrets.

He was proud of his grandson. It seems he had worked pretty hard to get here.

"I overpowered your will with mine. I didn't do it so that you would pass out though, only enough for you to lose your concentration."

"And it has an effect on Devil Fruits?"

Garp nodded his head.

"Yes, to different degrees. Logias are the most affected by Haoshoku and Zoans are the least affected."

"How so?"

Garp gasped and realized what he was doing.

"Gah! I forgot that you're a pirate! Um...could you forget about this conversation? Thanks."

Robin stood up with a frustrated look.

"Vice Admiral-san! Please tell me more! I only have pieces of this information, but you hold the rest of it!"

"Sorry! No can do! I'm actually supposed to kill you all, but I'm already not doing that!"

Robin sighed, and sat back down.

"Then may I ask another question?"

Garp picked his nose.

"I'm not sure. Maybe you can."

"You are Luffy's grandfather, correct?"

"Yeah! I am!"

Robin had a grim, but serious expression.

"Why did you not help him out of the Goa Facility?"

Garp stopped and slammed his hands down on the table, breaking it and sending food on the ground.

"What did you say?" He asked in a surprisingly quiet voice.

"I asked, why didn't you save your grandson from that hell?"

Garp glared at the woman in front of him. Rage filled his face.

"What gives you the right to ask that question?!"

"Because I was forced to conceive a child in one and they murdered her."

Garp finally knew who this woman was.

"You're Nico Robin, aren't you?"

"Correct, but don't dodge the question."

Garp sat back down. A dark look replaced the rage.

"I'm a marine. I was given orders to not go there."

"So you betrayed your own grandson?"

"NO!"

Garp roared, but stayed seated. He just stared at Robin, panting.

"I didn't know what they did there until it was too late! My own friend tricked me into telling him about Luffy's Gum Gum Fruit!"

"Ignorance doesn't absolve you, Vice Admiral."

"I was told the Facilities were necessary! You don't know what it was like! All of the men who opposed the World Government were monsters! They were powerful! I was told that the Facilities would help us fight back!"

"By becoming more monstrous than the ones you fought?"

"Justice demanded I stay away! I wasn't even allowed to go back and visit him!"

"Did Justice tell you to stay away, or did your superiors order you?"

"They're the same thing!"

"Then do you think what they did was right? That torturing innocent people was Justice? That hurting Luffy was right?"

Garp kept breathing heavily.

"Tell me, Vice-Admiral." Robin got up and put her face close to the emotional man's.

"Do you believe that they were right?"

A moment of silence passed between them.

"No..." Garp hissed out.

"...That wasn't Justice. I know the truth now."

Robin walked away, heading to the exit.

"If they were to order you to do the same thing to Luffy again, would you?"

She didn't receive an answer as she walked out.

Garp sat alone at the broken table.

He didn't know.

He remembered the people in the marines.

How Sengoku had become more merciless and cruel.

Sakuzaki murdering innocents.

Kuzan, who had shouldered the death of his love and the guilt of ruining his daughter's life.

Then he remembered Luffy and Ace.

They had hugged him, laughed with him, they played with him, and ate with him.

They had loved him.

Garp clenched his fist tightly, it turned black. The floor and the rest of the table exploded just from him doing that.

He didn't know what the answer to her question was, but he hoped he would never find out.

* * *

Garp was already getting ready to leave. Coby and Helmeppo seemed to be in better spirits while he had calmed down a little.

"Anyways, Luffy..." Garp was picking his nose while he stood outside with everyone else.

"...You've done quite the thing. Defacing the World Government flag, destroying Enies Lobby, attacking the Enies Lobby Facility, that's all but assured that you've declared war on the World Government."

"Hey – wait a minute! When did Luffy deface a flag?" Ussop cried out. He didn't remember destroying a flag.

"From some survivor testimonies, it seems Luffy ripped a flag up as soon as he arrived."

"What?! Luffy! Why would you rip a flag up?!"

"Because I didn't like it."

"That's not much of a reason...!"

"Ussop!" Zoro shouted.

He walked behind Luffy, who was picking his nose.

"Despite what you feel, Luffy is our captain! By being the Straw Hats, we pledge to follow our captain!"

Luffy kept picking his nose as he stared at Garp, who was doing the same thing.

"Are you going to go against our captain's decision again?!"

Ussop held his hands up in the air, he looked pretty scared.

"N-N-No! I was just surprised it all! I'm 100% behind Luffy!"

"So am I!" "I'll follow Luffy!" "Fufufu...he did that?" "The shitty Moss Head is right, I accept Luffy's decision."

"Alright! You've found a nice family, Luffy!" Garp he stopped and looked over the Straw Hats, being sure to look at Nico Robin a bit longer.

She looked so calm and composed, yet he had seen a viciousness in her when she interrogated him.

The Straw Hats were a great family. He was glad Luffy had such nice friends.

"Goodbye, Luffy! I'll try to visit again when I get the chance!"

"Oh? You're leaving? Okay, bye."

"What kind of goodbye is that?! Show a bit more emotion, you brat!"

The two continued to fight, though Garp felt something else.

He was happy. Luffy was alright and had found a great family.

Garp could rest easier now, knowing that Luffy wasn't alone anymore.

* * *

**Alright, I'll clarify something here. Garp did not tell Luffy that he was the son of Dragon.  
**

**It ties in with something I have later. Let's just say, Robin is really an important character. **

**Hope you all enjoyed!**


	18. The Strength of Suffering

**Hello everyone! Here's a short chapter for you all!**

**Hope you all enjoy! If you haven't seen the poll in my profile, check if out if you're interested! It's to decide if I should list Robin as a character for the story and add that its a little LuRo. That means updated summary too!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

The Straw Hats were drifting lazily on the ocean in their new ship, The Thousand Sunny.

They had left a day ago, after Franky had revealed the ship. Iceburg and the Galley-La crew had shown up to give their goodbyes. Iceburg and Franky had talked to each other, and they did it without having any arguments or jests. He told Franky that he regretted not being able to do anything. He would protect Water 7 in his place and he would make sure the Franky Family would be remembered and treated with respect.

Franky had hugged Iceburg.

The other Straw Hats learned that Franky was joining them, and they accepted him readily.

Luffy was leaning against the railing at the stern of the Thousand Sunny, thinking about what had just happened.

That move that the pigeon guy did...it really hurt him. Would he have to fight more monsters like that?

Chopper had been at the Facility for at least one day. Was he really alright?

Too many things to think about. Luffy's head was starting to hurt.

He heard footsteps behind him. Turning to see who it was, he saw a smile.

The calm smile of one of his family. It relaxed him.

"Hey, Luffy! What are you doing back here? Thought I'd tell you that we're going to have a party soon to celebrate our victory and our new crew!"

Zoro went to stand next to Luffy, leaning against the railing as well.

"Thanks, Zoro!" Luffy grinned a little at his swordsman and turned back to the ocean.

"I was just thinking about some things that happened at Water 7."

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the thoughtful look Luffy had on his face.

'Luffy can think?'

"Oh? Mind sharing them with me?"

Luffy cringed, but he decided to talk about it. Zoro might be able to help him.

"Zoro...we almost lost Robin and Chopper back there."

"Yeah, we did, until you went all psycho monster back there and took them back."

"I know...but it was a close call." Luffy frowned.

Zoro was troubled. Luffy almost never frowned.

"Zoro...we're strong, yeah?"

"Yeah, we're strong."

"Then how did we almost lose everything?"

Looking closer at Luffy, Zoro noticed something.

Luffy looked depressed. He looked like he had failed at something.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, we have all of this strength, yet, Robin and Chopper..."

Luffy finally looked Zoro in the eyes.

Zoro stared into the eyes of someone who looked like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders.

"...They still suffered, Zoro."

Sighing, Zoro put his hand on Luffy's shoulder, trying to reassure his captain.

"That wasn't your fault, Luffy. Those bastards played dirty because they knew that was the only way to win."

"Zoro, the World isn't fair. It doesn't matter if they play dirty or not, we should have been able to do something."

"We did all we could, Luffy! We got everything back!" Zoro smiled at Luffy, hoping it would make Luffy more confident in their abilities.

"...No...we didn't, Zoro." Luffy turned back towards the sea with a despondent look.

"Luffy..."

"Zoro...I can feel their pain."

Zoro could only stare at Luffy, baffled by his words.

"What? What are you saying, Luffy?"

Realizing there was more to this than a simple kidnapping, Zoro continued.

"Luffy, what happened at Enies Lobby?"

Sighing, Luffy once again stared into Zoro's eyes.

"..I don't think I've ever told you about the World Government Facilities, but let me enlighten you."

* * *

Robin was peacefully sipping some wine in the Aquarium Bar. Nobody else was around and all was peaceful.

She was focusing a bit on what little Garp had told her. About Busoshoku and Haoshoku haki.

Busoshoku was one that she had managed to understand quite a bit. It was a really amazing ability that would not only allow her to prevent her arms from getting hurt, but it provided a lot of strength in her affected body parts.

Haoshoku seemed a bit out of reach for her. She had tried doing it to many of the enemies in the past, but it seemed like she couldn't will anyone to the point of unconsciousness.

The most important ability hadn't been revealed to her. The so called, "mantra" ability.

Activating the ability, she felt something was off.

Rushing out of her seat, she ran towards the Sick Bay.

* * *

Chopper was busy making medicines in his own room.

He had to repress an excited shock that ran through his body.

Franky had built a Sick Bay! He finally had a room he could put patients in! He even had equipment to perform his doctor duties!

And it was his room! Chopper squealed.

Taking a look in his bag for his trusty mortar and pestle, he paused.

A scalpel fell out onto the floor. It shined in the light.

He stared at the blade for a moment, before quickly stashing it back inside.

Frustrated, he rolled over to his desk.

_Straps were tied to his arms and he struggled to scream, but only blood came out._

Chopper panicked and fell to the ground, grasping at his head.

His hoofs gripped his hat, which was a darker shade of pink than it used to be.

"_Should we apply anesthetic?" _

"_No. There's no need." _

Chopper screamed and tried to drown the memories out with his wail. His fur grew thicker and the hoofs on his hands split off into 5 fingers.

The door to his room was thrown open. Someone had rushed in.

"Chopper!" He felt arms wrap around him.

"No! Let me go! Stop it!" Chopper swung his newly formed palm at the intruder.

He heard a smack and a feminine grunt. The arms wouldn't let go.

"Chopper, please! It's me!"

"Robin!"

Chopper stopped and looked at Robin, a purplish mark on her face as the bruise began to form.

_The man in front of him was ripped to pieces. His organs laid strewn on the ground as the black arms continued to rip the life from him. _

"No! Go away! Leave me alone!" Chopper continued to struggle in Robin's arms.

Robin tried to hold on, but Chopper was getting stronger by the second.

"Please...Robin...I need to be alone right now!"

Her heart broke as he begged for solitude.

She slowly released him. She looked down at his crying form with a look of failure.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Chopper. For intruding. If...if you need anything, I'll be right outside." Robin stood up and left slowly, looking back before exiting.

Chopper huddled up in a corner and cried.

_The man couldn't speak anymore. Blood was everywhere and he saw the life leave his eyes. _

He felt ashamed. He was a doctor! He was supposed to help people!

_The man was slashing him with his sword. Laughing maniacally as Chopper's blood splashed on the walls. _

But why did he feel so good when that man had died?! Was he really a monster?!

_The doctors had been cutting and ripping away at him. They never seemed to stop. _

Weren't doctors supposed to help people?! Why did they hurt him so much?!

Chopper didn't know any of the answers to his questions. He could only be consumed by the pain he felt.

* * *

Zoro looked at Luffy with a mixture of shock and surprise.

"These...these Facilities do that sort of thing?! They did that to Chopper?!"

Luffy nodded his head and stared out into the sea.

"They do."

"And you were there for 6 years?!"

"Yep."

Zoro stayed silent as he absorbed this new information.

"I don't know how it really works, but I was able to feel their pain as well."

Looking back at Luffy with more confusion, he saw that a tear had fallen from Luffy's eye.

"Robin's hurting right now...and so is Chopper."

"How can you tell?"

"It's...something I've had for a while. I can feel the pain of those close to me."

"...How long have you had that?"

"10 years."

Zoro swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat.

"10 years?"

"It only works for those close to me. I don't sense the pain of anyone I don't know or don't care about."

Zoro didn't want to ask the question he had, but he needed to know the answer.

"Did you feel the pain of those in the Facility?"

He could see Luffy clenching his fists a little.

"...It feels so real. Like it's happening to me..."

Luffy looked at him with more pain than he thought it was possible to have.

"They were the only people I knew, Zoro. The only other ones I had contact with were the doctors. I had hoped that I could be friends with them, but they pushed me away."

Luffy moved away from the railing, walking towards the stairs leading to the second floor. Zoro followed him.

"Could you do me a favor, Zoro?"

"Sure...Luffy. What is it?"

"Could you go make sure that Sanji has everything prepared? I think he's with Nami in the Library."

"Yeah, alright. Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go see if I can calm Chopper down. It looks like I might need to cheer Robin up as well."

Luffy sighed.

"The life of the captain is a busy one..."

"Luffy, this is one of the only times I've seen you ever do your "captainly" duties."

* * *

Robin looked up at the door that led to the Second Floor deck of the Thousand Sunny.

Luffy had walked in. He seemed a little worried.

"Ah, Luffy. Can I help you with something?"

She seemed depressed. Crying could be heard behind the door to the infirmary.

"Hey, Robin! Is Chopper in there?" He walked up to her and pointed at the door she leaned next to.

"Yes, he is, but I believe that he needs to be al-"

"Forget that. Let's go!" He grabbed one of her hands and burst through the door.

Something was thrown at him. It looked like a glass beaker, but now it was just shards against the wall.

"I said leave me alone!" A deep and rumbling voice came from the corner.

In it, crouched a very hairy and very menacing looking Chopper. His eyes were hidden behind his hat, and it looked like he was still changing. He was a bit bigger, but not by much. He was, however, still growing.

"Why would I do that, Chopper? Did you forget who I was? I'm the captain! I go wherever I want to!"

"Leave me alone! Please!"

Robin began to tug at Luffy's hand, trying to get him to go out the door.

"Luffy...he said he needs to be alone. That's all we can do-"

"Chopper! Why are you being so mean?! You're hurting Robin!"

The beast seemed to stir a bit.

"The pain is just too much...! Don't look at me! I'm...I'm..."

"You're a monster?" Luffy snorted.

"Chopper! Don't you remember?" Luffy's skin turned white and his eyes glowed red.

"I'm a monster too! It's not bad being one!" His warped voice made some glass in the room shake.

Luffy pulled Robin back into the room.

"Chopper, why did you hurt Robin?"

Chopper didn't say anything as he stared at the two other Devil Fruit eaters.

"Why are you trying to hide away? Does it really feel that good to be alone?"

"No!" The beast turned back into the little tiny humanoid reindeer.

Chopper started to cry.

"I...I...I just didn't want anyone to reject me again! I'm sorry, Robin!" His voice was distorted by hiccups.

He ran towards Robin, jumped up, and hugged her.

She felt her shoulder becoming wet from his tears, but she didn't mind.

"It's okay, Chopper. I'm alright. Just remember that we'll never abandon you." She hugged the little guy back.

Luffy watched the two for a bit, before putting a hand on Chopper's head.

"Stop worrying all of us, idiot...you're part of our family! We're supposed to be there for each other."

Chopper's crying had calmed down a bit.

"It's just that...that scary place made me think I was all alone! I was scared that they had gotten you as well!"

Luffy and Robin both flinched a bit. They weren't sure if they could tell him that they had already been in a Facility in the past.

"Anyway, I think it's best if you got some rest, Chopper. You don't look like you'-"

"No! I'll see the nightmares again! I don't want to sleep!"

"Chopper...you have to be brave! Are you going to let the past hold you down like that?"

The little reindeer just buried his head deeper into Robin's shoulder.

"...I am brave."

"Then don't be afraid! They can't hurt you anymore."

Chopper reluctantly got off of Robin and moved over to the infirmary bed. He laid down in it and Robin pulled the covers over him. Robin still held on to one of Chopper's hoofs.

"...Are you sure they can't hurt me anymore?"

"I'm positive, Chopper!"

Luffy would make sure they would never touch Chopper again. Even if he were to die, they wouldn't take Chopper.

The two watched as Chopper close his eyes, he struggled to stay awake, but his transformation had taken too much energy out of him.

Luffy quietly led Robin back to the Dining Room. He motioned for her to sit down and he sat down next to her.

"Jeez, that sure was something! I'm glad that we were able to calm him down!" Luffy made sure not to speak too loud.

"Thank you, Luffy. I'm not sure what would have happened if you weren't there." Robin kept her gaze to the tabletop.

"I'm sure it would have all worked out! You just need to be a bit more aggressive, Robin!"

"I think you mean "assertive", Luffy."

"What's the difference?"

Robin giggled lightly. He could feel she was brightening up.

"I'm sure many people get the two confused at times."

Luffy just looked at Robin thoughtfully.

"I think we need to talk about your position in the Straw Hats, Robin."

Robin flinched and her head shot up. She stared at Luffy in fear.

"Hey! Wait a second! Hold on there, Robin! I just want to talk about what position you hold in my crew."

"I thought I was the historian?"

Luffy rubbed his head.

"Well, yeah, I suppose you are, but I need to tell you something."

He made sure he had the most serious expression he could muster on his face. This amounted to him picking his nose.

"I think you ought to be the 1st mate."

He wasn't expecting Robin to jump and looked shocked.

"W-What?"

"I think you ought to be the 1st mate. What's wrong? Didn't hear me the first time?"

Robin glared at him. She actually glared at him!

"Luffy, don't fool around like that."

"What? Who said I was fooling around? That's what I think."

She got up and started to walk away, but she found Luffy standing in front of the door. How he had moved so fast was beyond logical thought.

"Please move, Captain-san."

"What's wrong with you now, Robin?"

"I think you're not taking me seriously. Please move."

Luffy sighed. He was getting tired of all of this.

"Look, Robin. I honestly believe you're fit for the position. If you don't believe me, go ask the crew what they think, alright?" He put a hand on her shoulder. She tried shrugging it off, but his grip was too strong.

"I wouldn't lie to my family, Robin..."

"What about when you steal food, Captain-san?"

He flinched.

"...That's different."

"If you say so, Captain-san."

"Robin!" He moved her back over to the table. She knew resisting wouldn't get her anywhere.

"Why are you so against it?" He had a look of concern. Normally, she was the one who would be behind him at all times. Why change now?

Robin looked down. Remorse was evident in her expression.

"...I just don't think that I deserve such a position. I tried to help Chopper, but instead I hurt you, the others, and I was unable to rescue Chopper."

She looked back up at Luffy.

"I almost got you killed when Aokoji tried to capture me. And I almost let you die when you fought Crocodile..."

"You're still thinking about all of that? Robin, I don't care what you did back there! You saved me from death the first time I fought Crocodile! You also gave me the antidote to that poison too!"

Luffy looked confused, but his words were passionate. Why couldn't she just realize she was worthy?

"Don't worry about Aokoji! If I remember right, you're the one that hurt him the most! All I could do was get frozen a little!"

He made sure he was looking into her eyes. Pain could be seen within the brown orbs.

"And Chopper? That was bad, but none of it was your fault! You were the biggest victim in all of that, so I don't understand why you think it was."

"You've helped us all out so much, Robin! I'm pretty sure that if you weren't there, none of us would have made it this far!" He held her hands, but then took a closer look at them.

"Burns? When did you burn your hands? Were you trying to cook something?"

She pulled her hands away.

"No...I got them during the Enies Lobby incident."

Luffy remembered the tower he was in bursting into flames as the warships fired on his position.

Hands had pushed him off the tower, away from the explosions that shook the sea.

"You..."

Luffy huffed.

"Jeez, why the hell are you fighting the position of 1st mate? Are you secretly an idiot, Robin?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Gah! Whatever, Robin!" Luffy stood up and walked to the exit. He needed to check what was taking Zoro and Sanji so long.

"I am taking you seriously!" Before he left, he turned to look at her one last time.

"Out of everyone here...I trust you the most, Robin. Don't forget that!"

Robin sat there, staring where Luffy had just been a few minutes ago.

A small smile graced her lips.

"Thank you...Luffy."

* * *

Ussop was nervous as he walked towards Franky's Weapon Development Room.

He was overjoyed to see that Franky had built him his own factory! He really was a nice guy.

Franky was the one that had convinced him that he was wrong. That the Going Merry truly couldn't continue.

But he was also the one that told him that Merry had wanted to keep sailing with them. That Merry had become a klabautermann because it had wanted to continue. They only appeared as one when they had been loved greatly.

He entered the Development Room and saw that Franky was engrossed in another cool and powerful device.

"Hey! Franky! How's it going?!" Ussop said with a smile.

Franky looked over his shoulder and saw Ussop.

"Oh, it's you. How are you doing, Long Nose?"

"I'm alright!" Ussop took a seat next to Franky, who just stared at him.

"I was wondering if you could make me something, if that's alright?"

Franky raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? What would you want me to make?"

"Um, well, that is if you have..-"

"Just hurry up and say it already."

"Well! I was just wondering if you had any Adam Wood left that you could spare!"

Franky was a little shocked, but he did have some of it left to repair the Thousand Sunny if they needed to.

"Yeah, I got some. What do you want it for? I'm not going to waste too much of it now."

"Well, I broke my hammer recently, so I was just wondering if you could make me a handle for it?"

Franky considered it, but for a handle?

"Why a handle? What kind of hammer are you going to be using?"

"I'll tell you!" Ussop put on his proud voice.

"It's for my mighty weapon, "Ussop the Great's 5-Ton Hammer of Justice"!"

Franky had a deadpan look on his face.

"I don't think I'm going to give you that much wood..."

"No! I only need a small amount! Here's the hammer head."

Ussop took out a hammer's head that was about a foot long and half as tall.

"That? How could you use that as a weapon?"

"Well, the handle broke and some of the metal was warped," Ussop pointed at the face and it was dented a bit, "but it becomes a weapon when I put this on it!"

Ussop attached a weird looking shell to the face.

"It's an Impact Dial! It absorbs any amount of force and returns it to a target! It hurts the user though, but I thought it would be better if I attached it to a weapon!"

Franky scratched his chin. Maybe it would work? Designs flowed though his mind.

"You know what, I'll help you out, Long Nose! I want to see this, "mighty weapon"."

"Really?! Thank you, Boss!" Ussop wrapped his arms around Franky in glee.

Franky sat there with his eyes opened wide as he heard something familiar.

He saw flashes of his family. His friends. How they looked up to him. How happy they were when they celebrated.

Their deaths as they saved his life.

He lifted his arm and brought it towards Ussop.

"No problem, Ussop! Just leave it to me!" He smiled widely.

He understood now why Luffy had asked him to join.

It was going to be a painful path to recovery, but Franky was grateful.

Luffy had given Franky a family to help him cope with the loss of his old one. To continue living his life for his friends.

* * *

Zoro watched the party with his hands held in front of his mouth.

The Devil Fruit eaters were all seated on one side of the table. Everyone had quickly found out that he didn't steal any of their food, so they sat those two down next to him.

Franky and Ussop were laughing and drinking soda. It seemed like they had bonded pretty fast.

Nami smiled as Sanji brought out another special treat for her. The Curly Brow's eye shooting disgusting looking hearts.

Robin was just giggling as she watched Luffy prepare to do something weird, again.

Zoro himself had taken a seat next to Chopper, keeping an eye on the little reindeer as he ate some of the candies Sanji had made for him. He seemed alright, but he would shake every so often.

He couldn't imagine someone so innocent being tortured.

Zoro looked at Luffy who was grinning. He had chopsticks in his mouth and nose and got up on the table. Ussop and Chopper joining him.

"You call that a dance?! This is a dance!" Franky jumped up and did a few poses. Everyone just laughed at how silly they looked.

Smirking, Zoro took another swig of his sake, some of the liquid splashing onto his chest. It seemed that he wouldn't have to worry about Luffy, Chopper, or Robin for the time being.

Everything was alright.

* * *

The Straw Hats just stared at the ship that had drifted next to the Thousand Sunny.

It was decrepit and old, pieces of the ship falling off. Franky had commented how he was amazed it was still floating.

"Alright! I'll go check to see what's on the mysterious treasure ship!" Luffy rose his hand and walked towards the edge of the Thousand Sunny.

"Wait, you idiot! We're going with you so nothing too terrible happens!" Nami yelled as she dragged Sanji with her. With Luffy and Sanji there, she might have enough time to get the treasure before any ghosts dragged her away.

Robin merely smiled as she watched the three climb up onto the ship. The others had gone inside the Kitchen area.

A skeleton looked over the side of the mystery ship.

Nami and Sanji screamed while Luffy laughed. It seemed Nami should have brought Zoro instead. He didn't believe in things like this.

She had sensed the other living being on the ship, though it felt hurt. Robin hypothesized that the "mantra" was able to sense emotions after some experience.

Continuing to concentrate, she never stopped using Mantra. If she was going to get stronger, she would start off by being able to sense any and all danger before it ever happened.

Luffy's was excited, but it held some darker emotions. It felt painful to try to discern what they were.

Nami's and Sanji's was panicked. No doubt from the mysterious aura on the ship.

It would be interesting to see who was aboard the ghost ship.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think as we approach the Thriller Bark Arc! **


	19. Meeting Brook and Facing Hardships

**Hello again everyone! Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Thanks to doubledamn for finding a spelling error! Hope there are no more! **

**lol I changed Oz to Oars because of Little Oars Jr. That made some other words like "frozen" turn into "frOars".**

**Thanks to Ragnar91 for the correction! I still like Oz though. Sounds better, and its way easier to type Oz than Oars.**

**WARNING: There is some bad stuff in this chapter. Well, I mean bad content. Damn it, I mean there's a bad subject in this chapter! Oh whatever...**

**I hope you're all using your imaginations! It makes this story a lot better! lol **

**This is the Thriller Bark Arc. I combined all the chapters into one. Why? Not epic points this time. Because I don't want to think up names for 7 or 8 chapters that are in the same arc. **

**Reason why I mostly followed everything from the Canon is because I couldn't decide which part to cut. Seriously, this whole arc has stuff that I wanted, so I just put the characters in, and let it play out. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"I am the proprietor of this boat that might have caused you some worries!" The skeleton told the Straw Hats, "The "Just Dead Bones Brook"!"

He raised his hat.

"How do you do?"

"Stop messing around! What's up with this guy!" The Straw Hats, aside from Luffy, Nami, Sanji, and Robin exclaimed.

Luffy was chuckling, proud that he had found another interesting person to be a part of his crew.

Nami and Sanji hung their heads low. They were embarrassed that they had let Luffy do something stupid.

Robin just stared at all of them with a straight face. It seems Luffy had found that other aura on the ship.

In front of them stood a tall skeleton, taller than all the other Straw Hats. He wore a torn suit with a blue necktie. On his arm, what looked like a cane was hanging from it. He was only a skeleton, but he had a massive afro.

"Yohohohoho! Don't be so uptight!" The skeleton named Brook laughed.

"Luffy! Who is this guy?!" Zoro shouted as he ignored Ussop and Chopper's panicking.

"Hey now! Beautiful Lady! May I see your panties?" Brook asked Robin as he walked up to her.

The cold stare that he got in return was almost enough to freeze his bones solid.

"Cut that sexual harassment out!" Nami took off one of her boots and threw it at Brook, striking his head.

"I made him a part of the crew!" Luffy was laughing as he said so. He was so entertaining!

"You two! What do you have to say for yourselves?! You went with him to stop this kind of thing from happening!" Zoro berated Nami and Sanji, who just rubbed their heads in embarrassment.

"But, he is a little interesting..." Despite the skeleton's manners, they had never seen anything like him before.

"Yohohohoho! Alright everyone! Let's all just calm down now and go inside to escape this fog to have dinner!"

"You don't get to decide that!"

* * *

Brook was seated at the end of the dining table. They had gone inside and Sanji started making dinner.

The more responsible Straw Hats started to evaluate Brook. Sanji was excluded as he was in the Kitchen.

Zoro, Nami, and Robin were sitting at the table as Brook told one of his "skull jokes", a joke about him being dead.

Luffy was seated as well, though he was laughing and clapping. It seemed he enjoyed the joke.

The others weren't so amused.

Ussop and Chopper were too scared to get near the skeleton. Ussop had dressed them up in "holy items" to ward off evil. They sat on a nearby couch behind Robin and Nami.

"What a fine Dining Room! And the Kitchen...! This is certainly an amazing ship!"

"Damn right!" Franky stopped chugging his cola. He was seated near the counter

"I made this ship to be super! You've got an eye for fine things, don't you, Bones?"

"Hey...don't make friends with him now, Franky." Sanji really hoped they wouldn't keep this monster. He was so creepy and sca-

"It's been awhile since I've had a real meal! Of all the crew mates I value the most, I love cooks!"

Sanji rubbed his head in embarrassment.

'I guess the guy isn't so bad afte-'

"Food! Food! Food! Hurry up and bring out the food!" Brook shouted while banging his eating utensils on the table loudly.

"Just shut up and wait!" Sanji screamed from the Kitchen.

"So, I'm Luffy. What are you?" Luffy asked Brook, who seemed taken aback.

"What? I'm just bones! My name is Brook! I thought I told you already?" Brook had stopped his shouting to answer Luffy.

"Can you poop?"

Sanji started making dinner faster. He didn't like any part of this conversation.

Brook took a sip of his tea. Zoro smashed his forehead into his palm.

"Yes. I can."

"Okay, enough of this. You can stop with your questions now, Luffy. Dinner is served!" Sanji rushed the plates of food out, being careful so he wouldn't drop any food on the ground.

Brook eyed his neighbor's plate.

"Hey, you got more meat than I did. Let's switch." He picked up his plate to trade.

Robin took notice of him, but she started to giggle.

"Hm? What's the matter, Beaut- My food!"

Brook had not noticed Luffy's face in his plate, already eating everything on it.

"Oh, yeah...We forgot to tell you...Don't hold up food next to Luffy...He'll eat it." Zoro said between bites of his own food.

Brook looked sad, but before he could say anything, a plate was set before him.

"Here. Eat up." Sanji said as he walked away to continue serving the others.

"I'm...my chest is more full than my stomach. I've been suffering every day of having the skin of my stomach and my back pulled tightly together as if they were connected..."

Sanji could relate with the skeleton. Starvation was hell. It looks like he could actually get alon-

"But because I'm a skeleton, I don't have back or stomach skin!"

Sanji gave up as he listened to Brook exclaim "skull joke" and start laughing.

* * *

"The Yomi Yomi Fruit? Is that really a fruit?"

'Yes! I ate that fruit many decades ago! I am a resurrection man!"

"It's quite the strange ability! When I lived my first life as a pirate...oh! Excuse me."

Brook burped.

"The ship that I rode on and the crew mates that I had sailed through the Sea of Demons togther! Oh, excuse me."

Brook farted.

"I should beat some manners into you..."

"We eventually ran into a bunch of terrible pirates, and we all died! That's when the true ability of the Yomi Yomi Fruit went into action!"

Luffy frowned. He didn't like how Brook had said that all of his friends had died.

"Now, if I had gotten back to my body back in time, I would have been resurrected! Instead, I got lost and by the time I found my body, it was only bones!"

"Shishishi! He's an idiot. Sorta like Zoro."

"Hey..."

"But even if your body was only bones, how come you still have that afro?"

"...My hair was firmly rooted..."

"Uh, okay..." Sanji didn't want to ask anymore questions.

"Wait! So you're not a ghost?!" Ussop and Chopper finally approached Brook, though Ussop was holding up a cross.

"You're a human...but not a human?!"

"Yes, I hate ghosts! If I even see them, I start crying!"

"...Have you seen a mirror before?" Nami couldn't stop the sweat drop rolling down her face as she showed a mirror to Brook.

"Cut it out! I don't want to see a mirror!" Brook cried out.

Ussop thought he saw something strange in the mirror, so he grabbed Brook and held him down.

"What the hell?! You have no reflection?!"

Chopper rushed over to see the mirror too.

"Ah! It's true! Why don't you give off a reflection?!"

They ran away again in fear.

"You're a vampire!"

"Really?! That's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed as he looked at Brook. He really found an interesting guy!

Everyone but Luffy and Robin got up and prepared to defend themselves. They didn't know how Brook would react to his secret being revealed.

"Now that I'm taking a closer look, you don't have a shadow either!" Ussop held up as many holy items as he could.

How strong was an undead skeletal vampire with no shadow?! What items even held one back?!

Brook just continued to sip his tea peacefully.

"Hey! Why the hell are you so calm?!"

"The fact that I'm a skeleton and that I have no shadow are two completely different things." He explained.

He sipped his cup some more.

"...To be continued!"

"Cut that shit out! Just tell us!"

"Some time ago, a man stole my shadow."

This caught Robin's interest.

"Stole your shadow?" It sounded like a Devil Fruit.

"You got anything else you want to tell us? Before we all freak out again?" Zoro sighed. He had been taken off guard by the fact he didn't have a reflection or a shadow.

Looking over at Luffy, he saw that his captain was chuckling.

From now on, anything Luffy found...it would be full of surprises.

"I do! Ever since my shadow was stolen, I live in a hole where light cannot exist. And if I do venture out into sunlight, my body will burn to ash! I once saw the flesh melt from someone with the same affliction! Of course, by then I was already bones."

"Even though I'm a skeleton, where light should reflect off the ground, my body does not reflect light as a shadow or in a mirror!"

"In other words, I live in a world devoid of light! All of my crew mates were annihilated! I'm just "Dead Bones"!"

Nobody said anything as Brook announced what he was. He seemed cheerful, but...

"Your previous life sounds awful..." Sanji now felt bad for the guy. He didn't know the whole story, but now he seemed to understand a bit more of it.

"Yohohohoho! Even so, I carried on living! With only bones!"

Brook continued to laugh. It looked like he was hysterical.

"Hey...are you alright?" Ussop asked as he got closer to the skeleton. Brook had gotten up during his speech.

"Yohohohoho! I'm great! Today has been an amazing day! I actually met real people!"

"Today or tomorrow, as the days passed by in this lonely ocean, the only sound was one rudder swaying around! Lost for these ten long years!"

"I was so lonely! I was so scared and lonely!"

"I wanted to die!"

The Straw Hats listened to Brook as he danced around. The skeleton had gone through so much, and they were a little happy that they had made Brook feel a little better.

"You asked me to be a part of your family, right?" Brook stopped his dancing and turned to Luffy.

Luffy laughed. He knew what it was like to be alone for a long time, and this guy was starting to grow on him.

"It made me really happy...but I have to decline."

"What?!" Luffy was taken off guard.

"I'm afraid, that even if I were to join you out at sea, I would eventually be erased by the sun. At the moment, the fog protects me. I'll stay here and wait until my shadow returns by some miracle! Yohohohohoho!"

"What are you talking about?! If that's the case, I'll go get it back for you!" Luffy stood up and shouted.

The only ones in the room who knew why Luffy was desperate were Robin and Zoro.

Luffy could relate to Brook much more than any of the others. To lose all your friends and be alone for so long, it was something that was too much for Luffy.

"Who was it?! I'll go kick the crap out of them!"

Brook stared at Luffy, his expression unreadable due to a lack of facial muscles.

"You're...truly a kind person. I'm sorry though. I can't tell you. I do not wish to send you to your deaths..."

"Are they strong?! Don't worry about that! We didn't get this far due to luck!" Half of Luffy's face had turned white, the eye socket darkening.

Brook briefly thought if the man was half skeleton like him.

"No! Please forget about it! Why don't I play a song for you all! In my previous life, I was a musician aboard my ship!"

"What?! You have to join us now!" Luffy enthused. He couldn't believe it! This guy was the musician he had been searching for so long for?!

"How about a sailor's tu-Gah!" Brook fell to the ground, landing on his rear as he screamed.

The others turned to where he had been looking.

A ghost was coming through the wall.

A large vibration shook the ship.

What was going on outside?!

The ghost disappeared and the Straw Hats ran outside.

'Looks like this is Luffy's fault.' Zoro thought as he ran through the door.

'I'll just blame him whenever something like this happens again.'

* * *

The Thousand Sunny stood still on the water. No waves were being produced from the sea.

The vibrations they had felt earlier was from a gate that had sucked them into an enclosure. The Straw Hats were trapped.

Brook had explained that they had been targeted. He asked them if they had lifted a barrel out of the water, and they said that before they met him, they had picked a barrel out of the water and opened it. A red firework shot out from it, which signaled the ones who had trapped them.

The skeleton explained that they had been targeted by the moving island ship, Thriller Bark. He warned them that it was a place of evil. A place where ghosts and demons lived. Brook then left, departing by running atop the water. Since he was only bones, he was very light and was able to run on top of water.

Nami, Ussop, and Chopper then cried that they shouldn't follow the skeleton, claiming they had "I-can't-land-on-that-island" disease.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Luffy wasn't paying too much attention to them. He had been fantasizing about having Brook in his crew.

'It's no use...he won't listen to us...' The three cowards thought. They just hoped they wouldn't be going with him.

"Alright! That's it! Sanji! Lunchbox!" Luffy shouted as he danced in joy. This place looked super cool!

"Come and get it, Luffy." Robin already held his lunchbox in her hands as she and Sanji exited the Kitchen.

Sanji already knew that he would want one and Robin had helped him make it.

"Luffy! Franky! You better protect Robin-chan with your lives!"

"Alright! Exploring a mysterious island really makes you pumped up!" Franky seemed excited.

"Robin? You're going with them?" Nami asked Robin, who smiled at Luffy as he was handed his lunchbox. Who would want to go on that island?

"I like thrills. Doesn't it make you excited to explore an island like this?" Her voice was a bit more lively.

'Of course...Robin likes scary things...who knew?' Nami sighed. She had hoped that Robin was a bit more normal than that.

"If you guys are so scared, I have something to show you." Franky had walked up to their crying forms.

He watched as Robin explained how they were trapped to Luffy. Surprisingly, it seemed like he understood her explanation.

"The Thousand Sunny has a system called the "Docking System". You already saw part of it earlier, but it's time to reveal more of it."

Franky went up to the helm and pushed a few button he had installed into it. Nami, Ussop, and Chopper were told to go down the ladder located within the mast and enter the door labeled "2". Franky told them that they would know what to do once they got there.

Everyone could hear movement within the ship. Things were shifting inside and some of the Straw Hats that were near the railing on the sides of the ship could see the number on the side of the ship rotate.

It had been on number 1 before, and it slowly turned to reveal a 2.

The other Straw Hats looked to see what would happen. They could hear cheering and laughter from the door that hid their view to the inside of the mysterious door with the 2 on it.

It slowly opened, and they could hear the revving of an engine. As the door finally opened all the way, they discovered what had made the noise.

"It's Merry! I can't believe it!" Luffy exclaimed as he watched Nami, Ussop, and Chopper riding on a little ship modeled after the late Going Merry.

"It's the Mini-Merry! It can seat 4 people! Hope you enjoy it, Straw Hat!" Franky grinned at his captain as he came down from the helm.

"There are 6 channels! Two of them are labeled "0" and they hold the Thousand Paddles! We can move by the power of cola! Channel 1 has the White Horse, the waver you had was modified by me! Channel 2 is the Mini-Merry and Channel 3 has the Shark Submerge, a submarine that can take you into the depths of the sea! Channel 4 is empty, but I might put something in there later." Franky had taken a cola from his stomach fridge and was sipping it as he explained the "Docking System".

The Straw Hats were just amazed as they watched the other three ride in the Mini-Merry. They were laughing in joy. It might not have been the real Merry, but it helped them feel a bit better that Merry would always be with them.

* * *

"Hey, where did they go?" Zoro had been watching the Mini-Merry near the railing, but it had suddenly disappeared into the fog.

"What? Did your eyes get lost or something? They're rig- Hey! Where did they go?! Nami-swan!"

Sanji pushed Zoro out of the way, ignoring the growl that came from the swordsman, and started screaming for the his beloved angel to come back.

They all heard Nami scream in fear distantly in the fog.

"NAMI-SWAN!"

"Hey! Come back here! I want to ride the Mini-Merry too!" Luffy whined.

"Show a bit more concern for Nami-swan, asshole!" Kicking Luffy's head, he continued to scream.

"Are you even concerned for the other two?" A sweat drop rolled down Franky's face. Sanji really was passionate about Nami.

"I wonder if that was the sound of them being cursed, or being killed by a ghost?"

"Robin-chan...not you too..."

Robin knew that they were safe. She could still feel their auras. It looked like Luffy felt them too.

But...it was weird. Was there another one nearby?

The anchor suddenly dropped.

"What?! Was that the anchor?" Luffy yelled as he started extending his senses. He sensed something weird coming from inside the ship. A ghost?

* * *

Absalom couldn't believe his luck.

He recognized the captain of this ship. His name was Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He looked kinda stupid though, with his red vest and blue shorts. He wore the straw hat he was named after proudly on his head.

The invisible man walked over to the swordsman, noting that the captain and this woman looking at him. He wondered if they could see him, but doubted that. They acted like they didn't know what they were looking at.

Nonchalantly, he drew one of the swordsman's blades. His name was Roronoa Zoro, a weird looking, green haired man. Absalom didn't know why, but he hated this man. With his stupid looking hair, that black washcloth on his shoulder, and the stained green cloth wrapped around his waist.

Absalom felt something wrong from the blade he had in his hand.

The sword started to make him afraid. The fear within him grew the longer he held it.

"Everyone! I think I just heard a beast's voice!" The woman cried out.

He threw the sword at the captain. He had been planing on stabbing someone, but the sword was too strange. Absalom watched the Straw Hats panic.

"That's enough! Nami-swan could be in danger out there! Everyone! I'll leave the ship to you!"

The blonde haired guy was about to jump off, but Absalom wouldn't let him escape. He wasn't done playing with them yet. He grabbed blondie's ankle and smashed him against the side of the ship. Throwing the blonde man to the opposite railing, he looked at the others.

There was this giant man with blue hair. He was pretty big, and he seemed pretty weird. He only wore a hawaiian shirt and a speedo. The image of the man burned his eyes, so he turned his look to the woman from earlier.

Her beauty struck him solidly in the heart. She was gorgeous! That purple dressed matched her nicely with the fishnet stockings and black boots. He wondered what she would look like without it.

She looked at him weirdly, but he didn't care. He didn't want a show.

He wanted a taste.

* * *

Robin stared at the spot she felt the presence of the weird intruder. She was sure it was alive, but she didn't know in what way.

Her mantra showed her...nothing. All it showed her was...her. It acted like she was being attacked though. She could still hear the beast's voice, but she didn't know where it was.

Forming a few arms on her, she started to prepare for an atta-

Something wet and warm hit her face and slid down her face and chest! Something that felt like a body pressed up against her! She tried to push it away, her arms turning black, but the thing had held her so that she couldn't fight back!

How was she supposed to fight off what she couldn't see?!

* * *

Absalom shivered in pleasure as he relished her taste and savored her body with his own. It was wonderful! He decided!

This woman would become his bride!

"Gah!"

Before he could begin his escape with the beauty, something had grabbed him by the throat and held him down!

He looked up, trying to see what it was, but he didn't have to search very hard.

A blank white face with black holes met his eyes. He attempted to escape, but something held him down by the throat.

"What the he-?" He couldn't stop his question exiting his throat.

As if an invisible signal was given, darkness seemed to leak from the holes.

Absalom felt fear unlike anything he had ever felt before! He barely recognized that he had deactivated his invisibility.

Sharp, dagger-like teeth were shown as this monster opened its mouth and unleashed the most hellish roar he had ever heard!

What was this thing?!

* * *

Zoro shot his head towards Robin when she had given a surprised cry. It looked like she was struggling with something.

She looked very disgusted and uncomfortable. He put a hand on Wadō, the only sword he had on him.

He realized that he didn't need to do anything as he watched a fully transformed Luffy move past Robin, slamming something on the ground. She fell to her knees and Sanji went over to help her.

Zoro couldn't see it, but he had heard a gasp and a thud against the deck of the ship. Luffy had caught an invisible something.

"What the he-?" An unfamiliar voice muttered.

Zoro saw the devil's eyes (or were they pits?) widen and he opened his mouth wide. A roar burst forth and startled Franky, the others already used to the roaring.

It was strange. Zoro had only seen Luffy like this one time.

The one time he had seen him like this was at Whiskey Peak, when he had to fight this monster off.

A man formed underneath the devil's grip, it must have been invisible before, but now they could all see it. It looked a little like a man, but Zoro couldn't be sure.

It wore a black coat, a weird hat, and blue pants, but its body looked like it had been mixed up with animal parts.

The devil raised a hand, preparing to smash this unknown man's head into the deck.

"Luffy! Don't hurt Sunny!" Franky yelled out as he saw what the devil was about to do.

The devil stopped, its hand still cocked in the air, ready to destroy the stranger he held down.

"Dead Man's Hand!"

The man had raised a hand to the devil's head and an explosion consumed it.

Zoro was surprised, but he knew it would take a lot more than just a light show to keep that thing down.

The man was laughing, but soon stopped. As the smoke cleared, the devil could be seen without a mark on its body.

It roared once again and swung his hand to the side, catching the stranger in the head and sent it flying to the side, off the ship.

The man flew through the air, but had one new addition to him.

The devil's hand was still attached to his head.

The devil pulled its arm back, the man trailing after it. As soon as he got close, the monster slammed its other fist into the man's head.

Zoro felt a little pity for the man as he saw his head getting smashed between a fist and a palm.

'He shouldn't have messed with Luffy.'

* * *

The devil didn't have many thoughts as he smashed the man's head in, doing the best he could to erase him.

Everything must have been made tougher in the Grand Line. It was getting harder to kill things.

All the devil knew was that this man had touched something that didn't belong to him and he would pay for that.

Noticing no further movement from the man, he started to swing his arm around, the man flying through the air as the devil's hand still holding his head.

After gaining enough speed, the devil launched the man towards Thriller Bark. Hopefully, he would fly pass it and land in the ocean.

The devil turned back and walked to Robin, who was still sitting on her knees. It looked like she was in shock.

It knelt next to her, staring into her eyes with its abyssal ones.

The devil would protect his property. It tried to remove more of the saliva that she was covered in.

It could sense a little bit of itself inside the woman. It was strange, but it felt nice.

* * *

The transformation receded and Luffy was sitting down, trying to wipe Robin clean with his vest.

"Hey, everyone! I think we should go find Nami and the others. This place doesn't seem so safe."

"You're just now figuring that out?!" Sanji yelled at the rubberman.

Robin gently pushed Luffy out of the way, saying she'll just take a shower later. Luffy was upset.

He told her he could still smell that man on her, so he begged her to take one now.

Giving her a look he knew she couldn't resist, Robin relented and left, saying she'll only take a little while.

"Sanji, things are always dangerous on the Grand Line. They're not always a threat to us though." He answered Sanji's rhetorical question.

"Luffy? You mind answering a question really quick?" Zoro had walked next to Luffy.

"Sure, we've got time to wait for Robin."

"I got one too, Straw Hat." Franky seemed nonplussed.

"I'll answer any question, I suppose." Luffy raised an eyebrow.

Haven't they ever seen him protect his family before?

"I noticed you always grab your enemies, and then hit them. Why is that?"

"Oh, that's easy. If I get a hold of them, they can't get away. It makes things easier, plus, it helps protect you guys if you're nearby."

"Alright, thanks, Luffy."

"Now my question! What the hell was that, Straw Hat?!"

"You've never seen a rampaging monster, hellbent on destroying his enemies before, Franky?" Sanji blew some smoke out.

"I've seen the guy transform, Curly Cook, but that was different! You really surprised me, Straw Hat! I thought you were a ghost or something!"

Luffy rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, Franky. I'm not sure why I sometimes transform into that."

"What did you feel when you did all that?"

"Hm...the closest feeling I got was...possessive."

That wasn't what Zoro had been expecting.

* * *

Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Franky disembarked the Thousand Sunny. They had been looking for a place to dock, but the enclosure they were in only led to a giant spider web. Strangely, Brook's ship was there as well. It must have been captured along with the Thousand Sunny. The Mini-Merry was stuck to the web.

Franky had put the Mini-Merry back into the Thousand Sunny. Luffy pouted a little, but it wasn't time to play around.

There was land near the Mini-Merry, so the got off onto the island ship. A gate was there that had a sign saying, "Welcome to Thriller Bark!".

The gate had a flight of stairs going downwards. The Straw Hats decided to descend down the stairs.

"Wait, why are there stairs leading down? Isn't this a little suspicious?" Zoro didn't like this. It seemed like a trap.

"I believe we don't have much of a choice, Zoro."

Zoro just looked over at Robin who had her usual smile on her face.

'She's enjoying herself.' He thought as he watched her move with a bit more energy than she usually did.

* * *

They reached the bottom. The area had no roof, but they could only move straight. The ground floor was far above them, forming walls to the side of this place. Skeletons lined the floor as they continued walking forward.

Growling was soon heard.

"Luffy? Don't tell me you're hungry already...I made these lunch boxes to eat later, not now."

"It's not me, but I wonder what it is? Can I eat it?"

The creature revealed itself. It was a giant three headed dog, it was the source of the growling.

Two of the heads barked loudly, one of them yipped.

"Cerberus? Does that mean that these stairs lead down into hell?" Sanji blew some smoke out of his cigarette. He didn't care if he had to descend into hell, he would rescue Nami-swan!

"Aw, I think it's cute!" Robin giggled.

"Does he want to fight?" Franky asked rhetorically as the dog hunched down, ready to pounce.

"How bold..." Zoro put a hand on one of his swords.

They were all surprised when Luffy lunged at the creature, biting deeply into one of its necks.

It howled in pain and shook Luffy off onto the ground. Luffy let go willingly, spitting out what seemed to be chunks of flesh on his knees.

"Ew! It's bad! What the hell? There's no blood either..." Pouting, Luffy looked at his family.

"This thing's useless! Can't be eaten."

Cerberus seemed shocked. These people really didn't seem afraid of it.

"You're right..." Sanji was kneeling down next to the chunks Luffy had spat out, "...it's flesh is preserved, but rotting. It must have been embalmed or something. No blood, or anything."

"Does that mean it's undead?" Robin asked the chef, "This really is an interesting place."

"Should I cut it down?"

"No." Luffy held up a hand from where he was kneeling. He stood up.

"I want to tame it!"

Zoro raised an eyebrow. What changed his idea of it being useless?

"What makes you think that it will even let you?"

"A dog is a dog!"

Luffy walked up to the dog. Cerberus flinched as the human just walked right up to it, without an ounce of fear.

"Alright...shake!"

Cerberus sunk its three sets of jaws deeply within the man in front of it. The skin was tough and hard; the teeth were unable to break through.

"Jeez, and he was just warned." Franky muttered.

Sanji sighed and Robin giggled.

Zoro looked over at the historian. He was beginning to suspect why Luffy had suddenly changed his mind.

If he couldn't eat it, it could serve another purpose.

"Alright...! Let go now...!" Luffy's voice could be heard from within one of the head's mouths.

Cerberus slowly let go of the human. There was a weird feeling coming from him...

"Alright...good doggy!" Luffy looked up into the three sets of eyes and grinned.

Ceberus would have smiled back if it could. The feeling was making him feel submissive...

"YOU BASTARD!" Luffy smashed the three heads into the nearby wall with one hand.

He then walked over to the unconscious dog.

"Alright...play dead!"

"That's not how you tame a dog..."

All those present besides Luffy just sweat a little at how absurd Luffy was being.

* * *

The five Straw Hats eventually left the ravine. There were more stairs further ahead and it had led into a dark forest. Thriller Bark seemed to be covered in eternal darkness due to the storm that had hit before the Straw Hats arrived.

"It's strange that Cerberus-san is still alive due to the wounds he sustained." Robin mentioned to the others while she rode on top of the dog.

Despite Luffy's manner of teaching, Cerberus willingly followed them. It seemed to have become subservient to Luffy.

The others just walked alongside the hound, looking around at their new surroundings. Trees and fog were the only things of interest.

And the tree with a face drinking tea with the unicorn.

The Straw Hats stared at them, and they stared back. The tree was in the process of pouring tea for the unicorn, but froze when he saw the humans.

The unicorn's cup overflowed with the tea from the kettle.

Luffy lunged at the tree and Franky went for the unicorn! The tree tried to run, but being a tree, it stumbled and was caught by Luffy.

"Woah! Please just overlo-Ah! Don't eat me!"

Luffy had started biting into the tree, but he spat wood chucks out.

"Aw, I can't eat this guy either..."

"Hey! I caught that unicorn!" Franky held up the struggling horse.

"That's strange..."

"Hm? What's that, Robin?"

"All of these creatures have numbers on them."

The other Straw Hats looked at the dog, the unicorn, and the tree. True to her word, they did have numbers on them.

After dropping the tree and the horse down, they ran away. The dog kept following them though.

* * *

Some time passed as they walked. Robin stroked the dog's necks and it growled in pleasure. Sanji glared at the dog, wishing he was it. Zoro didn't care as he kept his guard up. Franky was already forming up plans to make armor for the dog. Luffy rubbed his stomach, hoping they would eat soon.

Translucent, humanoid shapes floated through the air in the area ahead. They floated around, twisting and turning, and had smiles on their faces.

"Woah! Look at that! Ghosts!"

"I'm going to try to catch one!"

Luffy jumped up with his net, attempting to capture one of the ghosts, though they just floated through the net.

"Intangible, eh? Let's see how they like this!" Franky walked up to the dancing ghosts.

"Fresh Fire!"

Flames escaped his mouth and consumed the ghosts. The fire shot past their forms.

"That didn't work?" Franky was a bit disappointed.

One of the ghosts flew through him.

"...I...it just seems like I'm unable to do anything anymore...I'm sorry everyone...but I want to die now..." Franky fell to his hands and knees, his face down to the ground.

"Franky! You bastards! I'll get you for this!"

Luffy's skin turned white as he tried to tackle one of the ghosts, he went straight through them.

When Luffy had landed, he sank to his hands and knees as well.

"I'm so useless...please...forgive me everyone...I'm too weak to do anything..."

"What the hell? What's wrong with them?"

"It seems that these ghosts sap away the will of whoever they pass through." Robin had a finger to her chin.

Suddenly, a ghost flew through Robin.

"Robin-chan! You shitty ghosts!" Sanji was preparing to jump towards their attackers when he noticed Robin was still sitting down calmly.

"Huh? It didn't affect you?" Zoro called out as he looked at her. The others were broken so easily, but why was she not like them?

"I'm unsure, Zoro. Maybe it's because I think they're a little cute?"

"I doubt that...maybe it's because you're smarter than these bozos. Fools. Spending so much time goofing off instead of training their bodies and spirits." Zoro berated his fallen comrades.

As he was talking, a ghost flew through his body.

"I'm sorry that I was ever born...I want to be reincarnated as dust..." The swordsman cried out pitifully as he sank to his knees.

Sanji laughed loudly. Now this was entertainment!

* * *

The group continued walking on their path until they came across a graveyard. Luffy decided that they should eat there, but Sanji protested, saying that it would spoil the food.

A weird moaning could be heard. Everyone looked over to see a man coming out of the ground. He was the source of the noise.

Luffy slowly pushed the man back down into his hole.

"Are you some kind of idiot?! What makes you think I'll go back?!"

"A strange old man with a wound?" Luffy had sweat running down his face.

"That's clearly a zombie, Luffy!" Zoro, Sanji, and Franky screamed at their captain.

Robin said nothing. She used her mantra to see if the man was truly undead.

She could sense an aura coming off of the dog, the man, and the area around them. It was strange...the aura wasn't coming from the creatures themselves but from their shadows...

The other zombies popped out of the ground. Many of them looked like they wanted a fight.

They all rushed the Straw Hats, victory played through their eyes as they got closer.

Robin raised her arms, Luffy cracked his knuckles, Franky revealed his iron fist, Sanji inhaled more smoke and Zoro unsheathed his swords.

The beating that they gave the zombies was too much. The zombies gave up almost immediately.

* * *

"Hey, did you guys see a woman with orange hair, a reindeer, and a long nosed man?"

Luffy was interrogating the zombies, looking for the whereabouts of his friends.

"Well, we might've seen someone like that earlier." "Yeah! I think there were people like that!" "It's top secret though, so we can't tell you!"

Zoro sighed as he stood nearby, listening to the "interrogation". He and Robin had volunteered to supervise it as Sanji and Franky checked the area out a bit more.

Robin giggled next to him. She seemed to be having a great time on this island.

He could only wish he had as much enthusiasm as he watched Luffy beat the heads of the zombies in when they had lied to him.

After the interrogation, Luffy had returned the zombies to their graves via planting them headfirst into the ground where their gravestones were. He might have missed a few, but he was sure he returned them all to their proper resting place.

They learned that Nami, Ussop, and Chopper had entered the mansion nearby. It could barely be seen through the fog, but they were already at its gates.

* * *

"Hey, you there! Young lad! You're incredibly strong, right?!"

A man had come up to the group. He had many scars and he hobbled towards them in his shabby clothes.

"Hey, Old Man! You're really hurt, are you alright?!" Luffy ran up to the man.

"Are you really that stupid?! It's another zombie!" Zoro, Sanji, and Franky had yelled at him once again.

"Actually, I'm human..." The man replied.

"What the hell?! Why do you look like that then?!"

Robin could be heard laughing. She was having a great time already.

The man told them that he and others had suffered greatly on this island. There was a man that tormented them and stole their shadows.

"Ah! You know who's stealing the shadows?! Old Man, please tell me!" Luffy shook the man a bit.

"It's a man by the name of Moriah!"

"Moriah?" Everyone turned to look at Robin, "Are you referring to Gekko Moriah?"

"Robin? You know that guy?"

"I do. He's a man that has a bounty that exceeds yours, Luffy. He's one of the Shichibukai."

"Please!" The man grabbed Luffy's waist and started to cry, "I beg of you! There are many more like me that are suffering because we can't leave this island! I don't have long...but I just want to be able to walk under the sun again!"

"Is that so?" Franky replied.

He tried to hide the tears peaking through his eyelids, but failed miserably. He started to wail.

"That's so heart rending! Okay! I'm not worried about my strength! I'm not crying!" He said between choked sobs.

"Hey...don't get too carried away now." Zoro was a little embarrassed for Franky.

"You! Old Guy! It's a ladies' privilege to convince others with their tears! And don't you start too, Crybaby!" Sanji kicked Franky.

"Don't worry, Old Man! We're looking for the guy that steals shadows too! I'll kick his ass, and you'll be able to go out into daylight again!" Luffy grinned at the old man.

The Old Man started to cry again, but they were tears of joy.

"Really? You'll do that for us? Thank you! Thank you, Young Lad!"

The Old Man let go of Luffy as it started to rain. The fog was clearing up.

"Maybe we should start heading into mansion now? I'd like to get out of this rain." Robin had put her bag over her head.

"Wait a minute!" Luffy shouted, looking up into the sky.

"Is that a sail?!"

A massive sail could be seen with the words, Thriller Bark, labeled on it. It hung over the mansion and it seemed to have no end.

"You didn't know?" The Old Man asked the group, "Thriller Bark is the largest ship in the world! It carries an island from West Blue around the sea!"

"Oh?! Really?! That sounds so cool!"

"That sail is connected to the main mast, which is in the back of the mansion."

"Alright then, everyone! Let's go!" The group walked through the gates that led to the mansion, preparing to find their lost comrades and defeat Gekko Moriah.

* * *

Marching up to the main door, Luffy knocked loudly.

"Hello, hello! Anyone home?!"

A few minutes passed.

The cracking of wood was heard before Luffy opened the door.

"Oh? It was already unlocked? Alright then! Let's go in!"

Before entering, Zoro looked at the door which now had a fist sized hole where the lock used to be.

"What do you mean "it was already unlocked", you vandal?"

They all looked at the room they were in now. It appeared to be a Dining Room of sorts, with the table and chairs knocked to the floor. There was a fireplace with a weird looking pig ornament above it, a bear rug on the floor, and various paintings on the walls.

"Moriah?! Where are you?! I want to kick your ass!" Luffy shouted as he walked over the bear rug.

"It's strange...there's no servants in this large mansion." Robin commented, looking at a painting of a beautiful woman.

"This room...! It looks like there was a fight here! Nami-swan! Where are you?!" Sanji yelled, running around the room.

"Oink-Oink! How bold of you to just enter, knowing who our master is!"

The Straw Hats looked to see the pig ornament looking and speaking to them.

"The pig's talking? Hey! Have you seen three weaklings here?" Luffy questioned. He started using his senses to see what else was around.

Robin had already done so. Looking at the painting, she could still see its eyes looking at her.

They both sensed many presences inside the castle, though there were too many to find their friends.

"Let's welcome our guests!" The pig shouted and zombies from around the room shot out from their hiding places.

The figures in the paintings flew out, the zombies being the canvas.

"Hey? Why can't I get up?" The bear rug muttered as it felt something standing on it. It weighed a ton, so it couldn't attack.

Luffy just looked down at the bear rug, his fist already coming down upon its head.

Sanji kicked in the face of one of the male zombie paintings, sending it back into its frame.

The painting Robin had been observing shot out at her, its mouth open wide to devour Robin.

"Its very unladylike to open your mouth so wide, though you are very pretty."

"Eh? You think so?" The woman zombie asked while blushing. Nobody ever complimented her appearance!

It never noticed the arms sprouting from its body.

"However, you ruined your image when you came from the picture frame."

Robin snapped the bones in its body, sending it to the ground.

Two of the painting zombies stabbed Franky, but were surprised when their weapons broke.

"What the-?! What's up with his body?!"

Franky lifted the zombies up by the necks.

"Y-You're not those weaklings' friends, are you?!" One of the zombies screamed in fear. How could such weak people have strong friends?!

Franky had seen the devastation of the room and thought that the three missing Straw Hats had put up a fight.

"I am." He smashed their heads together as hard as he could, breaking their skulls.

Even though they were weak, it was the job of the stronger Straw Hats to protect the weaker ones. They were family, after all.

"Nitoryu: Nigiri..." Zoro aimed at a a group of the paintings.

"Nigiri? Sounds tasty!" One of the zombies commented as it rushed towards the swordsman.

He appeared behind them, their bodies being separated from their frames.

"...Hirameki!"

"That wasn't tasty at all!" The one from before cried out.

* * *

"All done!" Luffy yelled out when he saw that all the zombies had been defeated.

The pig ornament was just stuttering, unable to comprehend his comrades being defeated so easily.

The Straw Hats took the pig down from the wall.

"O-Oh wait! I remember now! Those three people you're looking for came by earlier! They're in some rooms now, resting!"

"He's lying." Robin said as she stared coldly at the pig. She could sense that he was.

The pig gasped and tried to convince them, but was unable to.

"Let's just take him with us. He might be able to show us where the others are." Zoro added as he turned to walk away.

"Where's that Curly Cook?" Franky said while looking at who was still around.

Sanji had disappeared. The zombies started chuckling, thinking that he would die alone.

"We've lost a pitiful man." Zoro hoped Sanji would pay for being so useless.

"Hey..." Franky was a little put off by Zoro's apathy towards Sanji.

"He'll be alright. He won't die." Luffy smiled at his group.

"Luffy's right. We should probably be worrying more about the others." Robin was still trying to locate the 3, now 4 missing Straw Hats, but there were just too many auras in the mansion.

They had ignored the zombies' comments on how they would all die. That it was okay to lose 1 or 2 people, and that they should be more worried about keeping themselves alive.

"Blah blah blah...shut up." Luffy snarled at them, causing them to quiet themselves.

"If anything happens to my friends, I'll kill everything on this island." He glared at the zombies.

They had never known more fear in their unlife before this man.

* * *

"Where'd Swordsman go?" Franky asked as they walked down a corridor.

The décor of the mansion was focused on a dark theme, with many places for hidden attacks. Zoro had been following the group, but he suddenly disappeared.

Luffy wore a frown as he noticed that Zoro was missing as well. It unsettled him on how fast they were all disappearing.

"I think that he was captured. There are many smaller auras above us." Robin mentioned as she looked up at the ceiling.

The creatures were well concealed, but they couldn't hide their presence. There were many of them, so much that the ceiling glowed when she looked at it with her mantra.

"Robin, keep an eye on Franky. We don't want to lose everyone."

"What?! Why does Nico Robin need to keep an eye on me, Straw Hat?!"

Franky didn't receive an answer. Luffy had disappeared as well.

Panicking a little, the two remaining Straw Hats were prepared to call out for him, until he came out of one of the rooms.

He wore a fearsome suit of armor, making him look like a fallen knight. The armor gleamed black in the candlelight and his red cape hung limply behind him.

"Alright! I found an awesome set of armor! My day's getting a little better!" Luffy enthused, his voice warped for some reason.

"Straw Hat! Do you think that this is a time to screw around?!"

Robin just stared at Luffy, wondering why he put the suit of armor on.

"Screw around?! Isn't it a man's romance to go and wear armor?!" Luffy shouted.

Franky stopped yelling and looked at Luffy in shock.

"When you made that body of iron-!" Luffy's passionate words struck Franky with the force of tenderness, of romance.

"-Did you turn your heart into steel as well?!"

Tears spilled from Franky. Luffy was right! To follow one's heart's desires! To indulge in the romantic ideas of adventure and freedom!

Robin sighed and walked away. She felt this was something she shouldn't get involved in as she listened to Franky playing his guitar as he wept.

The pig ornament they had brought with them could only think of how crazy the humans were.

* * *

After recomposing themselves, the three continued their path, Luffy still wearing the knight's armor.

They came across a big room with some sort of arena set up in the middle

The pig ornament started giggling at the sight of the new area.

"What are you laughing about?"

"You're about to find out!"

Franky heard something from above him and jumped out of the way of a zombie that had fallen from the ceiling. It was in armor, but it was warped and bent with spears sticking out of the corpse.

The zombie had tried to impale the cyborg with its sword and had failed, but it didn't stop there. It continued to swing the sword at Franky, who had turned his arm into a shield and deflected the blows.

The pig ornament ranted on how they would all die, that the zombies they would face from here were much different than the others. They were the General Zombies, and they had been made with strong shadows and modified bodies.

Zombies started coming out of the various hiding spots in the room. They all looked more powerful than the zombies they had been dealing with before.

Franky was pushed back by the Knight Zombie, but he threw it into the center of the arena.

Robin put her arms across her chest, sensing more zombies above them moving about.

Luffy didn't pay any attention to the zombie pig. He smashed the Knight Zombie's head into the ground, effectively putting it out of commission as its head turned into dust. A dark blob oozed out of the neck when Luffy had pulled his black gauntlet from the remains.

"W-W-What?!" The pig ornament screamed in surprise.

"General Zombies, Captain Zombies, Super Zombies...I don't care about any of that stuff!"

Luffy roared at the pig, making it squeal in fear.

"Whatever kind of monsters you have, bring them on! I'll take them all on and show you what happens when you mess with us!"

The General Zombies took a step back. The other two Straw Hats smiled as they prepared to attack.

Luffy's fists shot out at the zombies, smashing against their bodies with enough strength to shatter bones in one hit. Some of the zombies had been wearing armor as well and the metal bent beneath Luffy's knuckles.

Franky clobbered a bunch of zombies with his iron fists. He had also spat fire at them, but they had comically doused themselves with water that was conveniently placed nearby.

Robin broke bone and steel with her black hands. They were no match for the smiling woman.

The pig ornament couldn't say anything as it watched its comrades get massacred by what he had thought to be "weak humans".

"Ittoryu: Sanjuroku Pound Ho!"

A voice had alerted Luffy to an attack that was being sent his way. He wasn't able to fully escape the slash, but his armor had protected him a bit.

A zombie stood before the three Straw Hats. He had sent the flying strike that belonged to their swordsman.

* * *

Nothing could prepare the Straw Hats for what greeted their eyes.

"A scar on the back is a shame for a warrior! Though I'm full of scars!"

Silence reigned in the area for a minute.

"Zoro?"

Franky started laughing when Luffy had mistaken the zombie for Zoro. Robin giggled a bit as well.

The zombie wore a tutu, and a shirt that had "Your Song" labeled on it. His hair was long and flowing, but it had wrapped bandages around its head. A toy crane's neck was attached to the bandages. It wore sandals with black socks, but no pants.

The zombie wore a diaper. It had also put a piece of cloth around its waist that looked like Zoro's haramaki. Three swords were in its possession, one of them still sheathed as it held two in its hands.

"My name is Jigoroh."

The zombies closed in on the Straw Hats, as they stared at the strange zombie, but arms sprouted from them and broke their decaying bodies.

"Luffy, it seems they have taken Zoro's shadow. I think this suggests that they have taken Sanji's as well."

Using her mantra on the strange zombie named Jigoroh, she felt Zoro's presence coming from the shadow.

"Can you sense that, Luffy?"

Franky stared at the other two confusedly.

"Yeah, it feels like Zoro. All we have to do is find the one that feels like Sanji?"

"I believe so."

"What are you two talking about?" Franky had surprised them. They were deep in concentration.

"Oh! It's just something we have called haki...or is it mantra? Whatever, haki/mantra. It lets us do special things!"

Looking at the zombies that had been disabled by Robin, he couldn't help but agree that they were a bit overpowered.

* * *

Jigoroh had not moved from his spot as he stared at the Straw Hats. He seemed confused.

"Do I cut them? Why do I not want to? Hm..." Jigoroh wondered aloud.

The zombie felt something familiar from them. The blue haired man, he felt nothing, but the other two...

The woman had put a gratuitous feeling in his chest. He felt like he owed her something. Food, perhaps?

Feelings from the man had initially shocked him. More than just gratitude, he felt despair.

Did he know this man in his past life? Why would he feel sad about this man? There seemed to be a tinge of helplessness...like he wanted to do something, but was unable to.

"Whatever! I think I'll just go and sleep a bit! I'll do something about them afterwards!" Jigoroh went to a corner and fell asleep.

There was no point in trying to deal with this now. Even if his master had told him to remove these people, Jigoroh didn't feel like he owed the master anything.

He owed these two something, and he didn't know why he felt that way, but a man always repays his debts. They would get away this time.

* * *

Luffy and the others saw Jigoroh walk to a corner and fall asleep, a bubble coming out of his nose.

"Zoro?" Luffy cocked his head to the side as he asked the question aloud.

"That's not Swordsman, Straw Hat!"

"Regardless, it seems like our search will be much harder. That zombie has Zoro's shadow, but we don't know how to get it back."

"All I have to do is smash it, right?" Luffy raised a gauntlet in the air, making a fist.

"Hm, it seemed to work on the others..."

"I know you want to get the shadow back," Luffy and Robin turned to look at Franky with questioning looks, "but are you really going to just attack that guy? I mean, in a way, the zombie is Swordsman, isn't it?"

Luffy and Robin turned to look at each other. They seemed to communicate without looking at each other.

Robin furrowed her eyebrows, but Luffy shook his head and she seemed a bit disappointed.

"I guess you're right, Franky. I think Zoro would want to fight the zombie himself anyway. Robin! Franky! Let's go!"

Luffy walked out to the exit to the left of them, it led to a bridge.

"What a shame. I would have liked to see how well I would do against Zoro..." Robin lamented a bit as she followed her captain.

"What? Why would you want to do that?" Franky asked as he looked at her in surprise.

"I would have liked to see who is stronger."

"Why does that matter?"

Robin turned her head as she continued walking.

"Just a curiosity, is all." She replied cryptically.

Franky just wondered what was wrong with the two he was with.

* * *

They found themselves on a stone bridge leading further into the mansion. Luffy and Robin had felt a presence unlike any other in the surrounding area.

It held maliciousness in it. It seemed to have the same madness that they themselves carried.

Whoever was up ahead, it was a Devil Fruit eater. Nothing else had that same feel to it.

Before they could make their way across, a giant spider monkey came from above.

"Monkey-Monkey! A-a-a-a-a-Kuh!"

Luffy smacked the annoying thing off the bridge, but it had trapped him and Robin in a net of sticky web.

"Gah! That stupid monkey!" Luffy cried out as he tried to remove himself from the webbing, but was unable to.

Robin struggled as well, but the webbing was too strong.

"These webs are as hard as steel!" Franky exclaimed as he examined the webbing. It barely moved now, having hardened so much that it made its captives uncomfortable.

"If you could do something, please do it now." Robin asked Franky who had managed to avoid the webbing.

"I could try using fire, if that would he-"

A distinct laughing could be heard coming from above.

"What is that?! That sounds a lot like Broo-"

Before the skeleton hit the bridge, he had cried out one word.

"Bone!"

* * *

Nami slowly opened her eyes.

She put a hand to her head and winced as she rubbed a bump.

Ussop and Chopper had just been with her when they were attacked by zom-

"Ussop! Chopper!" She shouted while trying to sit up, but was unable to.

Looking at her waist, she saw that she was strapped onto a table. She was currently in a cathedral.

"You aren't the same as that other woman...but you're also pretty beautiful!" A voice had growled at her.

Gasping she tried to see what had made the noise.

Her shirt flew open, revealing her underwear.

"Sorry for intruding! I hope you don't mind! We just need to get your wedding dress on!"

She felt hands moving across her body, slowly taking off her skirt and boots.

"Stop it, you creep! Let me out of here!" She swung her hand at the intruder.

She smacked the man, but he just chuckled.

Absalom would take pleasure in this. That Straw Hat bastard had gotten him good, but he was made from the parts of the strongest animals! It would take a lot more than that just to keep him down!

And now he would wed the man's Navigator! Shame she wasn't the other woman. The other one smelt much better, as well as tasted much better than this one.

Luckily, he liked it when they were weaker. It made it all the more pleasurable.

* * *

Brook had told Franky that fire would indeed destroy the webbing as he was pulled from the crater he had made on the bridge. He also told them that he had been here on Thriller Bark before, but he had suffered a crushing defeat.

The skeleton explained how the zombies were animated, that the captain of the ship, Gekko Moriah, had eaten a Devil Fruit that allowed him to steal the shadows of anyone, turning them into his slaves. Using zombies, he was able to make many soldiers using this method. Luckily, the ones who had their shadows stolen were safe because if the owner of the shadow died, the shadow would die as well, so at least Zoro and Sanji would be safe.

Brook needed his shadow back from Moriah, but was too weak to go for him. He, instead, went for his own zombie, hoping to defeat it and reclaim his shadow. He had made a promise with his dead family, and he would keep it.

Brook made a few skull jokes as he talked, but the more sensible Straw Hats could only sigh as they watched their captain laugh at each one.

"Well then! I've got to hurry, so farewell!" Brook said goodbye as he tried to leave.

"Hold on!" Brook stopped, "I've got a question if you don't mind answering it, Bones."

Brook listened to Franky as he told him that even if he were to get his shadow back, he would have to go back out into the world looking as he did, like a skeleton. He would continue to live his miserable and lonely life due to his appearance.

Franky admitted that he would have given up on life a long time ago. Going through life all alone was too much to bear, a pain that he realized Luffy had saved him from.

If Luffy hadn't convinced him to join the Straw Hats...he would probably be unable to ask Brook any questions.

Luffy and Robin stayed silent. They knew exactly how Brook must have felt, though he had been alone for 50 years. To be alone that long was too much, even for them.

"To go that far...to live this long like that..." Franky paused as he tried to control his own emotions.

"...What was that promise you made with your previous family?"

Brook had frozen in place.

"Yohohoho...you have no sense of timing, do you?" His hollow voice was loud in the silence the three gave him.

"It's quite simple. We left one of our family behind in a certain place. It was a painful decision, but we all agreed it was for the best. We made the promise that we would absolutely return."

Luffy, Robin, and Franky listened to the skeleton's words. Even if he was dead, they could feel the emotion in his words.

50 years was a long time to lament on one's actions. Who knows what hell Brook had put himself through for his failure...

"As you can see...we were annihilated out on the sea. The reason why I lived so long...the reason why I lived that lonely life...was because I have held onto that obligation of ours."

"But 50 years is a long time, Bones. Do you think that they would really wait 50 years for your return?"

A minute of silence passed by.

"...I know that it is possible that they have given up on us. That...they have moved on and left that place..."

"But! If there was even the slightest chance that he is still there, I will take it! I will fulfill that promise that we made so long ago!"

"I don't think he will forgive us so lightly after dying so irresponsibly so long ago, and because of our selfish promise, he would yell into the sky if he could!"

"That death is not an apology! Because a man once said that they would absolutely return!"

Brook shouted into the air as he revealed his emotions to the first people he had met in 50 years. These kind people had listened to his story and had lifted the long loneliness that he had shouldered for so long.

He only hoped that they would survive this nightmare.

"That family member you left behind..."

Brook was a bit startled when he heard Luffy, but he still had his back turned to the group.

"...what was their name?"

"His name was Laboon. He's an is-"

"Oh? Laboon? We know of him."

Brook twisted his neck as fast so he could to stare at Luffy.

"What?! You know Laboon?!"

Luffy grinned at the skeleton. Robin also had a small smile on her face.

She knew who Laboon was too. She had been there, after all.

"Yeah! He's over at Twin Cape that leads to the Grand Line! Who would have guessed that the friends that he had been waiting for would be you?!"

Brook stopped and looked around, trying to search for something to say.

"A-And is he good? I m-mean, is he alright?" He quietly asked the Straw Hats.

Luffy kept his grin up and decided to feel his emotions.

Grief and loneliness were expected from the skeleton, but there was also something more.

Happiness. The skeleton was feeling happy.

"Yeah, he's alright! He was waiting for you guys this whole time!"

"S-So!" Brook sank to his knees.

Tears spilled from his eye sockets.

"He's alright?! He's really alright...?!" Brook held his skull in his skeletal hands.

* * *

The Straw Hats watched the man cry as he found out that he could still keep his promise. That his friend had waited for him.

Franky was crying in the background. He loved this skeleton! To try to keep his promise for this long?! And not only that, but that his friend had awaited his arrival for 50 long years?!

It was too much! He really loved this guy!

* * *

Robin smiled as she watched Luffy walk up to Brook and put a hand on the man's shoulder.

She activated her own mantra and saw that Luffy was connected to Brook. Their aura's seemed to touch one another. Luffy's seemed to take a piece of Brook's, but it gave away part of itself as well.

Robin crossed her arms under her chest as she had more questions.

How often had he done that? Did he do that to the rest?

Did he do that to her? What effect did it have if he did?

She might never know the answer. Things involving Luffy were usually beyond explanations.

* * *

"Luffy-san! Thank you!" Brook looked up into Luffy's eyes as he felt waves of happiness.

"I'm so happy to be alive right now!"

Luffy's grin had diminished into a small smile. He had taken a part of Brook's pain. He only hoped that it would give Brook a bit more peace until he and Laboon were reunited.

"That's great, Brook!"

"Ah, you asked me to become a part of your crew earlier. May I please accept that offer?"

"Oh? Sure."

"What?! Just like that?!" Franky cried out.

Robin giggled. Unlike other things, she had expected that.

* * *

"How could he just accept him like that?" Franky muttered as he watched Luffy pick Brook up from the ground. He noticed that Brook was a lot taller than him.

"Do you think that he would just change his mind?" Robin replied to his rhetorical question.

"Actually, no. Once Straw Hat sees something he really wants, I guess he'll get it some way or another."

"Kishishishi! I was wondering where you would be, Straw Hat Luffy!"

The Straw Hats plus their newest member turned to see a large man dressed in a black suit. He had long purple hair that shot into the air and his head was shaped like a cucumber.

"Huh? Who are you?" Luffy asked, a bit put off as this guy had been unexpected.

"Luffy-san! That's Gekko Moriah!"

"Moriah?! You're the guy I have to beat up!"

"That's right, Straw Hat! But you'll be unable to do that!"

Robin tried to sense the madness that all Devil Fruit users usually had, but it was no longer coming from him.

It was coming from Luffy's shadow.

"Luffy! Watch out!"

"Huh?" Luffy turned to look at her.

A dark figure popped out of Luffy shadow and dug a pair of scissors into his shadow's feet.

Luffy's world started to go dark.

He had heard a roaring sound as he slowly hit the ground.

* * *

Robin watched as Moriah's shadow tore Luffy's shadow from him, it grinned as it held Luffy's shadow.

Clenching her teeth tightly, she crossed her arms.

Before she could do anything, Luffy's shadow roared, making its offender shimmer and disappear.

Moriah rushed over and grabbed the shadow before it could return to Luffy. He seemed to struggle with the dark silhouette.

"Hey! What's the matter?! Aren't you happy to be free from that pesky guy?! I can give you a body! I can give you free-"

The shadow roared again, but Moriah didn't drop it.

"This is bad, everyone!" Robin saw Brook with Luffy's body. He was running towards them.

"We really need to make our escape! We can't take on Moriah! He's too powerful!"

Brook was surprised when Robin walked past him. Franky watched the woman carefully.

"You expect me...to run?" Her voice was quiet, but he could sense she wouldn't turn away.

"W-What?! We need to! Luffy-san will be unconscious for 2 days! You saw what he did, he can just take our shadows and render us helpless! There's no point in sacrificing your own shadow!"

"Bones, you don't know us." Franky followed Robin as she walked towards the giant human.

Moriah took notice of the approaching Straw Hats and started laughing.

"Kishishishi! I know you! You're Nico Robin, another one of Straw Hat's crew! It looks like I'll be able to add another Devil Fruit eater to my collection! That skeleton over there was the first, and this guy's is the se-"

Luffy's shadow rammed a black fist into Moriah's face, interrupting him.

"Gah! Kage! Take this shadow and prepare to insert it into Oars!"

Moriah's shadow stepped out of the darkness, it looked just like Moriah, except it was only a silhouette with purple eyes and a purple mouth. It took the shadow from Moriah and left, its laughter the same as Moriah's.

"Now! Time to surrender your sha-"

Black arms erupted from Moriah, twisting his body and snapping him like a twig.

Moriah's body became a familiar black with a purple tint. He had switched with his shadow.

The shadow laughed at them, as if mocking them for failing to harm Moriah.

It looked down to see that Robin had reached it.

She had her black hand flat, fingers all pointing in the same direction and she drove her hand into the shadow.

When she stabbed the shadow with her hand, it started to scream. It eventually disappeared again.

"W-What was that?!"

"I have an idea...that shadow of his is actually his devil."

"Devil? What are you talking about now, Nico Robin?" Franky realized that there was a lot of information that he was missing.

"I have to ask the same question, Robin-san. I don't understand what you're talking about when you refer to it as, "the devil"."

She looked at her two comrades, Luffy still seemed unmoving.

"Not, "the devil", a devil. Devil Fruit eaters all have a devil inside them, or rather, every Devil Fruit aside from Logias."

Robin shook her head.

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time for explanations. We need to get Luffy's shadow back."

"A-Agreed."

Brook flinched and dropped Luffy. He had woken up.

"How are you awake?! It takes at least 2 days for someone to wake up!"

"...Do you think I'm just going to pass out in a place where enemies are still around? I'm going to kick that guy's ass..." Luffy struggled as he got up. Arms sprouted from him and helped him stand.

"Thanks...Robin. Now let's go find that guy and get back all of our shadows."

"...I'm sorry, everyone. But there is something I must do first."

The three Straw Hats looked at Brook. He was shaking for an unknown reason.

"I must get my shadow back. It is currently held by a zombie by the name of Ryuma. He's the one that defeated me in the past."

"Ah, that's okay, Brook. I think I'm the only one who can really fight that Moriah guy anyway. He doesn't have a shadow to steal from me. Shishishi!" Luffy laughed weakly. He still felt a little weird from having his shadow taken from him.

"Go find Zoro. We're family now, so we'll help you out. Where do you think they might have taken him?"

"They usually dump their victims on a ship. I will go check your marvelous ship to find Zoro-san."

"Swordsman's the weird guy with green hair. Just letting you know, Bones."

Luffy, Robin, and Franky walked to where Moriah had run off to while Brook ran back to the ship.

* * *

With his impressive speed, Brook had arrived at the Thousand Sunny. Objects were strewn across the lawn as zombies ransacked the ship. He looked into the kitchen area, and started laughing.

The zombies had indeed brought Zoro and Sanji back. They also decorated their sleeping forms for free.

Brook attempted to wake them up, but was unable to. He could only sigh and draw his sword.

With or without help, he had to defeat Ryuma.

"...Sword?"

Brook gasped and saw Zoro waking up. It seemed that drawing his own sword had brought him out of his coma.

The Straw Hats were really strange people, Brook thought as he watched Zoro laugh at Sanji's face.

* * *

Luffy was able to walk on his own now. Robin had stopped helping him and all three of them ran towards where Moriah had gone to.

They came across a large staircase, at the bottom of the stairs, Ussop and Chopper were being attacked by zombies. The two were trying their best to fight them off, but they looked heavily injured.

Luffy and Robin skipped the salt purification and just broke the zombie's bodies so much, one might be confused if someone were to tell them that the remains on the ground used to be human shaped.

Franky loaded the salt into his wrist guns and was able to dispatch the zombies without much trouble. He ran to the two injured Straw Hats to see if they were alright.

"Reindeer-Gorilla! Ussop! Are you two alright?"

Ussop managed to get up on one knee. Chopper laid on the ground as Robin went over to him.

"We're fine, but Nami was taken by some invisible monster! We were just running from that room, and this...thing just came and took her! It shot me and Chopper with some kind of explosive power!"

"Invisible?" Ussop's words piqued Robin's interest, "Was the creature also growling?"

"Yeah! It growled like a lion when it claimed that it found its bride!"

Robin looked at Luffy and Franky.

"Do you think it's the same...?"

Luffy looked a little ashamed.

"Sorry, Robin. I'm not sure if I killed it, so it could be."

"Well, now that we have Ussop and Chopper, what do you think our ne-"

Before she could finish, a great warped roar was heard coming from inside room that was up ahead, beyond the staircase.

"W-W-W-What was that?! Was that the huge zombie we saw in there?!" Ussop was shaking badly as he hid behind Franky.

"I don't want to see it! Please, save us!" Chopper was crying as he held onto Robin.

Franky looked over to see Luffy and Robin frowning. He knew just as well as they did what that had been.

"Chopper, may I please have a Rumble Ball?"

"Robin! Please! Don't go up there!"

"Franky, take Ussop and Chopper down to the Thousand Sunny. Try to see if you can find anyone else down there." Luffy cracked his knuckles as he ascended up the staircase, Robin following close behind, already chewing on the Rumble Ball that she had coerced from Chopper.

"You guys are going to handle that thing?"

"We will try."

* * *

Sounds of the building be destroyed could be heard as they got closer to the source of the noise. The warped roars and growls were much louder than Luffy had ever produced, but it only had a little of the overwhelming feeling that was usually felt.

Robin closed her eyes and tried to sense Hana. If she was correct in her assumptions, she might need help for this one.

"Oh? It's you again." Hana's voice was heard in her head, but no scenic view appeared.

"Yes. I may require your assistance."

"Robin-chan, you already have it." This was a surprise.

"No hostility?" She asked her mimic.

"Nope. None at all. You've impressed me when you fought against the World Government for the first time in your life." Robin could hear the smile Hana gave her.

"I also changed my mind. Don't eat the rubberboy."

"I'm sure that was never in my agenda."

"He might give you indigestion."

"That's not the point."

"Anyway, Robin-chan, as much as I like chatting with you, you're almost at the monstrous noises we've been hearing."

Robin paused in her step, making Luffy look back at her.

"Will I be able to talk to you later?"

"That depends on my mood. Just make sure you don't die ~"

Robin was brought out of her conversation with her devil when her shoulders shook.

"Hey, Robin! Are you alright?" Luffy looked a little worried.

She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Don't worry, Luffy." She watched her arm as one more sprouted from her shoulder. The hand gave her a thumbs up.

"I'm fine."

* * *

Brook had tried unsuccessfully to wake Sanji up. Zoro didn't help as he messed around with his unconscious form.

"Zoro-san, I don't think Sanji-san will appreciate being drawn on."

"Shut up. I'm doing him a favor."

The kitchen door opened loudly, causing the two swordsmen to draw their weapons.

Ussop and Chopper stood there, gasping for air. Franky could be seen on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, crying in anger about the state the ship was in.

"Zoro! Sanji!" Ussop paused, "Brook?"

"Hello, you two. I have managed to wake Zoro-san up, but Sanji-san is still unresponsive."

"Hey, Sanji! There's a beautiful woman right here!" Ussop shouted in the cook's ear.

"Huh?! Beautiful woman?!" Sanji raised his head from the chair he had been tied to.

A sweat drop rolled down Brook's face as Sanji and Zoro got into a fight.

These people were really strange.

* * *

Nami struggled in her bridal dress, rope bound her arms to her sides.

This...creep had undressed her and put her in a bridal dress. She admitted that she looked really pretty, but that wasn't the point! This man touched her!

_A bed appeared in her mind. Shackles were attached to its posts. _

Shaking her head in a little fear, Nami looked back to her current situation.

She stood in front of an altar inside the cathedral. The invisible man, now turned visible, stood next to her.

He was really ugly in Nami's opinion, but she wasn't so vain to only consider beauty. He was cruel and forceful, and she would never forgive him. If she ever got out of this, he would pay severely.

"And do you, Nami, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"N-!"

A zombie grabbed her mouth shut.

"Yes." The zombie pretended to be her voice.

"Then I now pronounce you..."

Nami's eyes widened.

"...Man and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."

* * *

Luffy and Robin now stood in the giant room that Ussop and Chopper must have seen the giant zombie they were talking about.

The entire tower had been a huge freezer and the giant had been kept in it. Even then, it barely fit inside.

It looked at them, his hand embedded in the wall.

As he removed it, Moriah was seen smashed into the wall, barely conscious.

"Hey! You're my zombie right?!" Luffy shouted at the giant.

"If you are, what are you waiting for?! Let's join back together to have more adventures! You would like that, wouldn't you?!"

The giant zombie didn't say anything as it stared at the two Straw Hats.

"Join...together?" Its voice was warped, like Luffy's was when he would transform.

"Okay...let's join together."

Luffy started to grin, but Robin tackled him out of the way, the giant's maw consuming the area which he had been standing.

"Huh?! What's wrong with him?!" Luffy yelled from under Robin's form.

She got up, helping him up as well.

"I believe he thinks "joining" means eating you, Luffy." She suppressed a giggle.

It was so Luffy-like.

The giant gave a roar and it tried smashing the two again, but Robin had formed a ball of black hands around them.

The giant zombie sent the two flying out of the tower, the zombie followed as it plowed through metal and stone to reach them.

* * *

Zoro and Brook stood in front of the samurai like zombie.

"Hello...Ryuma."

"Yohohoho...Brook. Have you come back to beg pitifully for your life once again?"

Brook unsheathed his sword while Zoro watched.

Zoro was told that he could help Brook only if he needed it. The skeleton had actually just said to only watch, but Brook had told them he was now a Straw Hat.

The Straw Hats protected each other. That was what they did.

"Things will be different this time, Ryuma! These past 5 years, I've gotten much stronger!"

"Fool...it doesn't matter how strong you get, it's never going to be good enough."

Ryuma drew his blade too. They were prepared to lunge towards their opponent.

"Laboon is waiting for us."

Ryuma flinched and narrowed his eye.

"I know that you must have felt what I did back then too, Ryuma. You were still with me back then."

Brook had to parry Ryuma's furious charge.

"Even if he was still there, what makes you think you can get back to him?! You're too weak to even beat me! You died the first time, what makes you think you'll get back to him now?!"

Brook deflected a strike and attempted on of his own. Ryuma was too skilled to be hit, even as he talked. He absently parried and continued his flurry of stabs.

"Because I have the dreams of all of my crew that died with me! There is much more than just my life at stake here, much more than just the Rumba Pirates! Laboon's life is on the line, Ryuma!"

Ryuma knocked Brook away with his sword and positioned himself in a stance familiar to Brook.

Brook met him with the same attack. The one that they both called, "Three-Verse Humming: Arrow-Notch Slash", a high speed cutting technique.

"Ryuma...Laboon kept his promise."

Brook's body was cut, his ribcage had been slashed in two.

At the speed they were going at, Brook noticed that Ryuma had refrained from cutting his afro.

"...It's time we keep ours..." Brook fell to the ground, defeated.

Zoro watched and drew his own swords.

"You wish to fight me? Why?" Ryuma prepared to fight Zoro. He had sensed the man in front of him was much stronger than Brook.

"That sword looks pretty nice...what is it?"

"This sword?" Ryuma held up his blade.

Zoro had felt an aura from the blade. It was a monstrous, violent aura that wanted to destroy everything.

He wanted that sword.

"Its name is Shusui. It is a meitou."

"Nice! Same as my Wadō. I'll be taking that sword."

Ryuma huffed and got in an aggressive stance.

"Let's see you try!"

* * *

Nami gasped as she was shoved down against the altar.

"Oh no! Perv-salom is at it ag-!"

"Shut up!" The beast man roared at his zombie subordinates, "Leave us! Now!"

The zombies ran out hurriedly as Absalom tore off her wedding dress.

"I'm afraid, we'll have to cut the Honey-Moon short! I wish to fully experience my new wife's body!"

She struggled against the beast man, but he held her down and smashed his lips against hers.

_Arlong laughed as she struggled. He slowly ran his tongue over her face. Disgust and horror filled her body._

He pressed his body against her naked form, grinding against her.

The beast man released her lips and sank his teeth lightly into her shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain and terror from Nami.

"Let me go! Stop this!" Her arms were held down by the man's hands. She tried to knee him, but he laughed, his voice muffled against her flesh.

"That's it! I love it when they struggle! More! Fight me more!" He looked deep into her eyes and she only saw lust for her body and her blood.

"I want to see the fight leave your eyes!"

"_That's it, Nami! I love it when you fight back!" _

"No...!" Her cries for mercy were being muffled by her fear and disgust.

She had hoped to never go through this again...!

Nami could only cry as he violated her upper body, savoring her helplessness.

_Arlong was rough against her flesh. Uncaring and cruel. He left her in a puddle of his own fluids._

The man was about to proceed downwards, but a hand gripped his shoulder.

"What?! I thought I-!"

A foot impacted with his face, the familiar black shoe gave hope to Nami.

"You..." Sanji glared at the man who had been all over Nami.

He looked down at her. Forlorn eyes looked back up at him. The pain she had felt was much more than physical. The man was about to violate his beloved!

Sanji saw the pain Nami was in. He had only been in the room for a second, but he could feel everything.

He was going to obliterate this man! He had hurt his family!

This man had committed a crime far worse than any other!

"YOU GODDAMN BASTARD! YOU'RE LOWER THAN TRASH! PREPARE TO FUCKING DIE!"

Sanji's leg was already burning with his hate and rage. The man tried to attack him, but Sanji had already closed in on his prey.

The beast man was sent flying into the wall. Sanji stared at the man with more hatred than he had felt in his life.

This man would pay, but not with his life.

This man would wish with every fiber of his existence, that he had died when he had pissed Luffy off!

* * *

Ussop and Chopper ran through the halls of Thriller Bark, terrified, but they had a mission.

Chopper wanted to confront Dr. Hogback again. The man was the one responsible for making the bodies for Moriah to turn into zombies.

The man was no doctor! Using his skill and expertise to manipulate the bodies of the departed! To be an accomplice of a man who stole people's freedom of walking freely into the sun!

Ussop looked over at Chopper and almost tripped. The reindeer was in his Walking Point, but he looked much scarier as his hair grew out and his hoofs became bigger.

"Hey, Chopper! Are you alright?!" They kept running, despite Chopper's transformation.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Ussop. I'm just looking forward to meeting the good "doctor"." Chopper's voice came out as a hollow sound. It was deep and almost bellowing.

They eventually wound up in a circular shaped room. A rather fat man with skinny limbs was arguing with a girl dressed in gothic lolita clothing. Cindry stood nearby, just watching.

"We need to evacuate Thriller Bark! Master Moriah was already taken out by Oars, and the giant zombie is too uncontrollable! He'll kill us!"

"No!" The lolita crossed her arms, "You shouldn't worry about Oars! I already sent some hollows to deal with his little hissy fit! We should wait until Moriah recovers, and then take the Straw Hats out!"

"Hogback!" Chopper roared while Ussop was trying to shush him, "I'm disgusted! You're no doctor in my eyes!"

Chopper seemed to grow really large, changing from his Walking Point into something resembling a giant human. His hat grew with him as well as his hair. His hoofs changed into fingers.

"You're sick!" His voice was even more booming than before. It had a hollow quality and he bellowed out his words.

"D-Dr. Chopper?! What are you?!"

"Chopper?! What are you doing?!" Ussop cried out as he fell on his butt.

He thought Chopper was the kinda cute but also kinda strong member! Not one of the monsters!

"What the-?! That thing's terrifying!" The lolita shouted as she sent hollows towards Chopper.

The hollows were the ghosts that they had seen around Thriller Bark. They passed through his body, and Chopper seemed to stumble.

Instead of becoming completely negative, he bellowed once again at the two Thriller Bark Pirates, making them run in fear.

Chopper chased after Dr. Hogback and Cindry while Ussop just stared at his large form crashing through the halls.

Looking between where the Dr. had gone and where the lolita had gone, he made a choice.

He could leave that Dr. guy to Chopper! He would deal with the lolita!

Those "hollows" were too dangerous! She said she had already sent some to Oars, and wherever Oars was, Luffy and Robin were there too! Becoming negative while fighting that giant zombie would be disastrous!

* * *

Robin stared at the two almost identical kneeling forms of Luffy and Oars.

"I'm so pathetic...I lost my shadow to a leek..." Luffy cried about his loss to Moriah.

"I don't deserve to eat anything but the dirt people tread..." The giant zombie's roar had turned into a whimper.

"I'm so weak...I can't even convince my own shadow to follow me..."

"I just want to die...starving in the middle of nowhere..."

Robin put a few fingers up to her head to massage her temples. She let out a sigh.

This would be troublesome when they both snapped out of their negativity in a rage.

* * *

Absalom attempted to escape the furious barrage of kicks with his invisibility, but Sanji seemed to know right where he was.

How was this possible?! How did he even know where they were?!

A kick sent him flying into the air, but almost as soon as he left the ground, a heel smashed into his face, sending him to the floor. His stomach was smashed as Sanji landed on it with both feet.

Sanji turned as fast as he could, restarting his "Diable Jambe" while on Absalom. It burned and drilled into the beast man.

Absalom stared up at what he thought to be a bounty-less pirate and his vision blurred as he was struck by not one flaming leg, but two.

One foot sent him staggering to the right, the other sent him all the way into the wall.

"Dead Man's Ha-" Absalom was going to fire the invisible bazookas he had strapped to his arm as he lifted both towards the man in black.

Sanji landed on his arms, burning them and directing his aim to the ground. Absalom fired and destroyed a part of the floor.

"You bastard! You interrupted my-!"

The first time Sanji had spoken in a while was the only time he announced one of his attacks.

"Anti-Manner Kick Course."

Sanji's heel came up and crashed against Absalom's chin, sending shockwaves through his head. The force even distorted the air and destroyed the ceiling above them.

Absalom was hovering a few centimeters from Sanji's foot. He was still conscious, but he couldn't move.

As the beast man landed on his back, Sanji started pulverizing the man into the floor.

* * *

"Dawn Serenade: Right-Handed Strike !" Ryuma shot a blast of compressed air where Zoro had been.

Zoro dodged the move while sending a "Sanjuroku Pound Ho" in retaliation. The samurai moved his head slightly out of the way, avoiding the slash.

The building now sported a new hole and a slash in its roof. Brook slowly picked himself up after his defeat.

Watching Zoro and Ryuma fighting revealed one thing to Brook.

Ryuma had never fought him seriously.

"Prelude: Au Fer!" Ryuma charged forwards and tapped Zoro's blades with his Shusui, trying to break Zoro's swords.

Zoro noticed this and had to do something quickly.

"Nigri: Hirameki!" Ryuma paused his own technique to avoid the lightning fast strikes Zoro attempted with both swords.

"Maguma!" Zoro pushed Ryuma back into the wall, making a dent in the structure.

Ryuma took notice of Zoro's pause after his technique and tried to stab him multiple times, but Zoro managed to move to the side.

Zoro swung his blades down at Ryuma, trying to push him down with his strength. Ryuma responded by backing up a bit, giving himself some room.

"Gavontte Bond en Avant!"

Zoro didn't have a lot of time as Ryuma shot towards him, sword ready to thrust through his body.

"Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon!"

They both clashed against each other. Ryuma had taken Zoro's attack with almost no injury due to his zombie body.

The building was getting demolished. Their two attacks blew the sides of the building apart.

Brook escaped to the outside, the fighting being too much for him.

* * *

The hollows flew through Ussop as he confronted the lolita girl he had learned was named, Perona.

The ghosts fell to the ground, left in a negative state. This also affected Perona, who had also taken a kneeling position on the ground.

Ussop had discovered that his own negativity was greater than the lolita in front of him.

For once, he was glad to be negative.

"Bearsy! Go and smash him!" She shouted in a depressed tone.

The bear zombie that she had with her swung its paw down at Ussop, but he already had his weapon prepared.

Bearsy didn't expect his paw to just stop against the long-nosed man. Doing no damage.

"Let's test my new weapon out...!" Ussop jumped into the air, a hammer with a weird shell was attached to its head. He brought it down on the bear's head.

"Impact Hammer!"

The force sent Ussop's arm flying above him, but at least it wasn't sent through his arm. He almost let go of the hammer though.

Bearsy hit the ground hard, making a crater where his head had landed.

The Adam Wood handle held firm. No cracks or damage was done.

Ussop picked the bear's head up and threw the bag of salt he had prepared into it, causing the shadow the zombie had to dissapate.

Perona cried out in rage and sadness. The negativity was still affecting her, but her favorite zombie had just been taken from her!

She sent her Mini Hollows towards the long-nosed man.

He had to die! There shouldn't be anyone in this world that could withstand her negative hollows!

* * *

Robin formed a giant hand underneath the giant's foot, making its enraged punch fly off target into the forest.

Oars' skin had turned white, which was a bit frightening. At least he didn't use that Haoshoku ability, or if he did, it no longer affected her. She didn't have time to wonder about that as Oars was still coming at them, intending on using his own body as a weapon.

"Gum Gum..." She watched as Luffy stretched his arms back.

"...Bazooka!" He was able to push Oars back, but only a little.

"Damn! I lost too much strength!" Luffy cried out as he jumped back to her position.

"Do you think that is has to do with losing your devil?" She asked him as she formed two giant black hands, bending Oars in half.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Oars had taken some of Luffy's rubber properties when his devil had been put into the zombie. It bent, but she didn't hear the sound of breaking bones.

"Maybe...but I never paid attention to that sort of thing!" He put a hand on the ground and made his legs into pumps.

Smoke rose from his form, but at a lesser rate than it used to.

Robin had more questions, but she knew Luffy didn't know the answers to most of them. She looked back at Oars to see that he had gotten free from her grasp.

"Alright! Let's do this, shadow!" Luffy arm shot backwards, preparing to meet Oars' fist.

Oars roared in defiance as it struck Luffy's hand. Shockwaves were created when they touched.

Unfortunately for the two Straw Hats, Oars sent Luffy flying into Robin and they both were sent into one of the Thriller Bark buildings.

Luffy wrapped himself around Robin, making sure that she wouldn't be hurt by the collision. He wasn't hurt by the punch, but Oars' mass was much larger than his own. He wasn't able to win the clash.

Oars stood there silently as he watched the familiar people fly away, crashing through one of the buildings. He then proceeded to search the area for any food, but decided to try navigating this strange ship by tugging at some chains attached to the mast.

* * *

Dr. Hogback had stopped in a room. Cindry and his other two zombies had subdued the monstrous Chopper. The two zombies were the zombies that had the shadows of Zoro and Sanji.

Jigoroh looked at the little form of Chopper. Neither side had fought and come out with no injuries. He himself had a massive hole in his chest from when Chopper had shoved a hoof through him. He wrapped bandages around the wound.

Sanji's zombie was a little penguin with a dog's face attached to it. It had been smashed into a wall, but had directed most of the damage away from him with his little foot. Unfortunately, the zombie was made of weaker materials, and looked ragged.

They had only managed to subdue Chopper using their best abilities. The two zombies didn't know why the penguin could make his foot catch fire or why Jigoroh could have 3 heads and 4 more arms, but it had allowed them to win against the Zoan.

"Fosfosfosfos! How would you know with your little medical skill what "life" is?!"

Chopper had argued that what Hogback did was obscene. That what he had created were real monsters, because he would mock their bodies as their hearts and soul had long passed.

Hogback mocked Chopper's weakness when he had lost to the two General Zombies, but Chopper wasn't going to give up just yet.

"Cindry! Kill him! Don't worry, Doctor Chopper! You'll get to serve the Dr. Hogback you admired so much in life as a reanimated corpse!"

Chopper rushed towards Cindry, even as she threw razor sharp plates at him. A few of the plates were able to cut him deeply as they flew by, and some shattered against his hide, impaling him with shards of porcelain.

He grabbed Cindry's arms, stopping her from throwing plates. The two General Zombies didn't move, as they were not ordered to.

"You don't have to listen to a guy like that!" Chopper shouted as Cindry smashed the plates in her hand into his head. Hogback just kept laughing.

Cindry was having difficulty carrying out her mission. For some reason...she didn't want to hurt the reindeer.

"You poor thing!" Cindry kicked him in the ribs, "What would your family think if they saw you being used like this?!"

"Unhand me!" Cindry screamed as she punched Chopper with her free hand. He grabbed that after she hit him.

"Stitched up like a doll! Forced to serve someone against your will!"

Cindry was becoming afraid. This reindeer's words were ringing true in her mind! Why should she be forced to work for someone who treated her like a slave! Because he trapped her in a body?! Because he had fused together this body and shadow?!

Cindry's body and soul knew that this was wrong. She never wanted to hurt anyone, yet she was being forced to in such a manner...!

She had been hitting Chopper throughout her thoughts, but soon stopped.

"Just accept it, Doctor Chopper!" Hogback continued his ranting, "This is what man has always dreamed of! The resurrection of the dead! People can be reborn!"

"NOBODY CAN BE REBORN!" Chopper shocked Hogback as he screamed loudly.

"DO YOU THINK WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS REBIRTH? THAT YOU'RE BRINGING HUMANS BACK TO LIFE?! HUMANS HAVE MORE FREEDOM THAN THIS!"

He grew into a large, human shape. His hoofs once again, becoming fingers as he transformed.

"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A MONSTER! USING YOUR MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE TO TORTURE THE DEPARTED!" Chopper bellowed.

Cindry stared at the reindeer as he held her arms.

"Hey! General Zombies! Stop him!" Hogback ordered as he fell to the ground in fear.

Before the two zombies could finish Chopper off, two figures crashed through the roof and landed next to Chopper.

"Gah! Are you okay, Robin?!"

"Don't worry, Luffy! I'm fine. Thank you for protecting me."

Chopper saw Luffy letting go of Robin, as they laid on the ground.

"Luffy? Robin? What are you doing here?" He bellowed softly, but it was still pretty loud.

They looked up to see that Chopper had transformed into his current state, holding Cindry's arms.

"Chopper? Oh! You look so cool!" Luffy shouted, stars in his eyes.

Chopper didn't respond like he normally would, he kept holding onto Cindry.

Robin looked around to see Jigoroh and another zombie with him. She helped Luffy up.

"Oh?! A beautiful woman! How lovely she looks!" The weird looking penguin with a dog's face cried out.

"Stupid pervert dogpen." The Zoro zombie was there too. He seemed to not like the penguin.

"What was that, you tutu wearing, old geezer?" It glared at him.

"Enough!" Hogback shouted, "We might need them alive, but that doesn't mean you can't cripple them! Cut their limbs off, just take care of them!"

Jigoroh frowned as he walked towards the three Straw Hats. The reindeer's speech was true. Humans did indeed have more freedom than what he had.

Nevertheless, he had his orders. He wasn't like Cindry in that he had experienced the cruelty of his masters. He didn't care as long as he fought strong opponents.

The penguin didn't look happy as it let its foot catch fire. He didn't want to go up against the pretty lady, so he would fight the stupid looking man.

Robin had a small smile on her face.

"Luffy? Would you please let me deal with Jigoroh?"

"Huh? Who's that?" She pointed at Zoro's zombie, "Oh! Okay! Sure. Do you think you can take him?"

She looked back at Jigoroh, smile still present.

"That's what I wish to find out."

* * *

"Polka Remise!" "Nanajuni Pound Ho!"

The building Ryuma and Zoro were in had its sides blown out. The two swordsmen circled around the roof of the building and clashed again.

Brook had barely managed to get out of the room. He was on the balcony outside.

He watched as Zoro and Ryuma continued to fight. They both had great footing even on top of the sloped roof.

The skeleton thought of all the times Ryuma had faced off against him. The zombie had never fought him to this extent.

Was he just that weak? Too weak to be snuffed out?

He was distracted as Ryuma slashed the roof in half, managing to cut all the way through. Zoro had jumped high above, and prepared for one final attack.

* * *

Zoro felt alive! He was able to fight such a strong opponent! And he was a swordsman!

It was a great relief from all the tricksters he had to fight up until now!

He had launched himself high above the samurai, Ryuma. Brook's skill was superb if this was his zombie! Now only if he had this kind of power!

Zoro put his hand on Kitetsu, and drew the sword. He was going to finish this!

* * *

Kitetsu was elated, no, beyond ecstatic!

This was finally a worthy fight! This was it!

The master really knew how to find them! And Kitetsu would cut everything down!

"Hiryu:...!" "Three-Verse Humming:...!"

Kitetsu sensed the sword in the samurai's hands. Its name was Shusui.

It didn't care what its name was, really! Kitetsu would cut through all opponents!

It was the strongest!

* * *

"...Kaen!" "...Arrow Notch Slash!"

Ryuma felt his blade clash with Zoro's for a brief second.

Surprise went through him as he saw his own blade lose the clash, being sent to the side as Zoro's went through his body.

Flames erupted from the wound, and Ryuma knew that this was the end.

He had shamed the samurai's body, but he couldn't help it.

To the end, he had always used Brook's style. It was how he fought.

It was how he liked to fight. Now, if only Brook would get stronger.

A weird feeling erupted from his heart (but he didn't have a heart. Yohohohoho...) as he looked down at the skeleton.

He hoped the samurai wouldn't mind. Ryuma wasn't prepared to leave this world.

He wondered how Brook would react.

* * *

"This sword's name is Shusui! I hope that it will be happy with its new master!"

The zombie sheathed the blade and sent it down to where Zoro had laid.

The green haired swordsman's hand shot into the air, catching the blade before it hit the ground.

"I have allowed this samurai's body to suffer defeat! I am ashamed!"

Zoro smirked up at the flaming zombie.

"As long as you're ashamed, that's enough. You are a true swordsman in mind and body."

He watched as Ryuma's body burned slowly.

"I would have liked to have met you when you were alive!"

"Yohohohoho..." Ryuma's laughter slowly faded away into the cold wind.

* * *

A weird black object surrounded by flames shot towards Brook, startling the skeleton.

It sank down into the ground, near his feet. The flames disappeared inside his shadow as it took his shape.

"You...you got my shadow back!" Brook cried out to Zoro, who was still smiling.

"Yohohoho...you're not free of me yet, Brook!"

Brook jumped in surprise as he heard that familiar chilling voice.

"Fine! I accept you as my master! Now, let's go off to the sea!" He could hear Ryuma's enthusiasm, something he had never heard before.

"Let us head off! Back to Laboon!"

* * *

Sanji sat near Nami, who had tried to cover herself with the ruined wedding dress.

Sanji had given her his coat. He would have given her his pants too, but she declined softly.

He smoked as he looked at the remains of the beast man. He didn't know if he was dead, but he did know one thing.

If that man ever got up, he would wish he hadn't. Sanji had taken from him what was sacred to all men.

His kintama.

"...Sanji..." He turned towards his angel as she whispered to him.

She was still shaken a bit from her experience, but he knew she was strong. She was his Nami-swan, after all.

"What is it, Nami? What can I do for you?"

Nami was still staring at the ground near her feet. She didn't want to even look in the same direction the beast man had fallen.

"...Is that all I am to everyone?"

Sanji almost dropped his cigarette in surprise. Nami had allowed him to smoke, and she looked like she had almost asked for one too.

"...What do you mean, Nami-swan? You're the most important member of the Straw Hats! What do you mean by-?"

"Am I just someone who needs to be rescued?" She interrupted him, staring into his eyes.

He saw pain, helplessness, and fear. Things that he thought she would have felt.

But he also saw anger. Was it at him?

"Am I just some object that men can just use however they want?!"

Sanji frowned as he saw the reason of that rage. It was the one reason why he protected women so much...

"Nami, I won't lie to you." He took one of her hands in his.

"That's exactly what some men in this world think. They are the ones that abuse and use women however they want."

She didn't expect this answer, let alone any answer.

"But...it's the reason why I protect ladies. Even if you're strong like Luffy or Robin-chan, or as weak as Ussop."

Sanji almost smirked. He wondered what Ussop would think of being called the weakest.

"I fight against those men. I despise that kind of World that they live in. I don't protect you because you're weak, Nami..."

He felt Nami's hands clench around his.

"...I protect you because I want to be different from those men. I want to fight against that kind of World. I never want you to feel as though you're just an object."

Sanji smiled as gently as he could.

"I fight because I love you, Nami. Because you're my family."

Nami looked at him with an expression he had never seen on her face before. She started to get closer...

However, her eyes scanned his face and she frowned.

"Sanji...your face ruined the moment." She shoved his face backwards with one hand.

"W-W-What?!" He cried out in despair!

What was going to happen?! What had ruined this moment?!

He picked up a piece of broken reflective glass near him. The cathedral had been destroyed in his revenge for Nami.

Looking at his reflection, he finally noticed something was wrong.

Black marks went all across his face. Some of it had been smudged, but it looked like someone had drawn obscene marks on his face with something black.

Before leaving to find Nami, he briefly remembered glancing at Zoro's hand.

It had black smudges on it.

His suspicion was only confirmed as he saw a "Zoro owns the Pervert, Curly-Brow, Weak, Busboy" on his forehead.

"YOU SHITTY MOSS HEAD!" Sanji exploded in anger. Distantly, he felt pleased that he heard Nami laugh.

Sanji knew he had to demolish the swordsman just as he had with the beast man.

* * *

"Now! Taste this!"

"Captain Ussop's Ten-Ton Hammer!"

His inflatable hammer popped as it hit Perona's head. Sending her into unconsciousness, fear written all over her face.

It truly was a harsh fight! He had many troubles, but had figured out her trick!

Ussop walked away, happy that he could help his family.

He had won another fight on his own! More people this far out in the Grand Line were weaker than him!

Throwing a victory fist into the air, he only hoped the rest had finished off the stronger enemies.

* * *

"Gum Gum...!"

Luffy charged towards the penguin, ready to smash it into pieces.

"...Gattling Gun!"

The penguin did its best to deflect the attacks. It managed to burn Luffy's hands a little with its own "Diable Jambe".

"Ouch! That hurts!" Luffy held his hands as they smoked a little. He looked back at the penguin, seeing it jump into the air.

"Concassé!" The penguin brought its foot down, ready to smash Luffy.

The foot missed Luffy by a few inches, the penguin's leg not able to reach as far as it thought it would.

Luffy stared blankly as the penguin floated in the air a little.

"Pistol!" His fist sent the penguin flying into the wall.

He watched as the penguin tried to get up. It looked like its body was about to fall apart.

"Hey...are you okay? Why are you still trying to fight?" Luffy asked the strange zombie.

"I-I'm fine! I'm going to defeat you because I was ordered to!" The penguin had a determined look on its muzzle as it tried to stand. It slipped and fell to the ground, its leg stopped burning.

"What-?! I can't stop now! I need to get up!" It tried again, but its foot just bent and broke in several places.

The "Diable Jambe" was used too much. Its legs were useless now.

"Sorry, penguin, but that looks like the end for you." Luffy put his hand on his hat and walked away, knowing that it was no longer a threat. He turned to watch Robin's battle.

"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!" Jigoroh sent three flying slashes at the woman who stood before him.

He didn't care if it was man, woman, or child. He would cut down all of his master's enemies!

Robin stood still as she watched the blades of wind approaching her.

She took a few steps to the side as the attack barely missed her, cutting the walls behind her.

"You bitch! You're messing with me!" The zombie shouted angrily. This whole time, she had just been avoiding his attacks!

A hand formed on his shoulder and flicked his face. Roaring, he sheathed his blades and rushed at her.

"Ittoryu Iai:...!"

Robin predicted that she would get cut in half, the building would also get cut from the force and collapse.

She held her hand out in where she knew the sword would strike. She used Busoshoku to harden the limb.

"...Shishi Sonsen!"

Her eyes couldn't see the strike, but she knew that she had blocked most of the damage.

A thin red line formed on her palm.

The wall behind her did get cut, but not as much as it would have if she hadn't blocked it.

"How do you like that?!" "Robin! Are you alright?!"

Luffy cried out in alarm when he saw the attack, but she turned to him with a small smile, revealing her palm.

Rose petals formed from the wound and when they disappeared, the line went with them.

"I'm fine, Luffy. I belive, Swordsman-san should be worrying about himself."

Jigoroh looked at her in a rage as the sword he had just used broke against her hand.

"These swords...! They're too-!"

"Your level of skill, Swordsman-san, is too much for simple blades." She interrupted as she watched the zombie fume a bit.

She looked over briefly to see Chopper dealing with Hogback.

The doctor had been picked up by the monstrous Chopper, Cindry stood nearby as tears fell down her face.

It seemed that there was something that both she and Luffy had missed.

"S-Stop Doctor Chopper! What will be the point in killing this genius mind?!"

Chopper raised the man to his eyes, fear ran through Hogback as he stared into the eyes of a monster filled with rage.

"Such genius shouldn't exist to use medicine for torture!" He was about to throw Hogback into the ground until Oars' gigantic face crashed into the building.

Robin stumbled a bit, Luffy fell to the ground and Chopper had dropped Hogback.

The doctor and Cindry had fallen to the ground floor.

Hogback attempted to run away, but was hit by a piece of falling ceiling. He lay underneath it while asking Cindry for help.

She didn't obey. She instead looked up at the transformed Chopper.

Cindry smiled at him before she was stepped on by the giant known as Oars.

Chopper roared and pursued the giant. Robin watched as Luffy got up and looked at Jigoroh.

"Hey, Robin? I think we should go after Chopper as soon as we can."

"Alright, Luffy. I'll finish up here." She crossed her arms.

"You think that you can just take me out that easily?!" Jigoroh shouted as he approached the two.

Before he could say anything else, black arms erupted from the joints in his arms and legs, sending him to the ground.

Luffy and Robin ran past the zombie as he cursed at them.

* * *

Franky looked over at the mansion after he had cleaned the Sunny up a bit.

A huge zombie was tearing through the structure.

Cursing his luck, Franky left, making sure he stuck his nunchucks into two stone pillars, making giant stone nunchucks.

He set off towards the zombie, not noticing the pink haired lolita or the boat that was slowly approaching the ship with some zombies. A man had appeared behind him on the Thousand Sunny, but he hadn't noticed that either.

* * *

Sanji had been wiping the marks on his face off when gigantic legs crashed into the room.

Nami gasped in shock as he picked her up and started running as fast as he could.

* * *

Zoro and Brook saw a giant zombie crashing through the mansion.

The two watched Sanji with Nami in his arms run out from the first floor of the mansion. Sanji was screaming something at the zombie, but the zombie just stared at him.

It stretched its arm back, surprising the two swordsmen and tried to smash the other two Straw Hats into the ground.

* * *

Ussop just looked at the giant zombie in fear as it tried to kill his two friends, but they were able to get out of the way.

Hearing some noises, he turned to see another monster (though it was just Chopper) and two other monsters (Luffy and Robin) come from the mansion.

"Cho-!"

The reindeer human jumped off the bridge he was on, roaring at the top of its lungs and scaring the crap out of Ussop.

"Hey, Ussop! Glad to see you're still alive!" Luffy grinned at him.

"Luffy! Is this your fault?!" He screamed at his captain, who laughed.

"Yeah! That's my zombie! Cool, isn't it?"

"Not in the slightest!"

* * *

Sanji set Nami down and told her to run to safety after he dodged the giant's stretched arm. He jumped up and kicked it in the forehead.

The giant's head was sent back a few meters, but it tried to hit the airborne cook.

Before it could hit him, Chopper rammed into its leg, making it stumble.

"Santoryu Ogi: Sanzen Sekai!"

The giant flinched as its belly was cut, revealing its preserved insides. A glass case could be seen within its stomach, but it was empty.

Zoro landed next to Sanji, Brook had jumped after him.

"Hey, Curly B-"

A foot almost smashed his kintama, but he jumped away hurriedly.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"What the he-?!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He blocked a few flaming kicks from Sanji. Fire surrounded the cook as he continued his fiery assault.

"Sanji-san! I don't think thi-" Brook wanted to keep the two from fighting, but was hit by Sanji. Luckily, it was only a glancing blow.

"SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU'LL PAY, MOSS HEAD!" Sanji kept trying to hurt Zoro.

"What did you call-?!"

"Hey! What's all this fighting about?!" Franky arrived to see a giant zombie watching the two Straw Hats fight each other.

"Hey everyone!" They all turned to see Luffy, Ussop, and Robin running towards them.

Chopper had returned next to the group. He thought it would be better to attack with his family.

"We have to run!" Nami came crying up the group. Nobody noticed the giant zombie turn white.

"Huh? Why, Nami-chan?" Sanji forgot about Zoro as he saw that Nami had changed clothes to something more casual.

"There's anoth-!"

The giant zombie roared and many of the Straw Hats felt an oppressive aura.

Ussop, Chopper, and Franky fell to the ground, foam coming from their mouths.

Nami dropped to her knees and gasped loudly. It was the same thing that had hit her at Whiskey Peak!

Sanji panted as he tried to keep his footing. He had almost been overwhelmed by that pressure!

Luffy, Robin, and Zoro looked okay, but they wore different expressions.

* * *

Zoro was surprised, but was able to withstand the pressure. He had felt it many times during his adventures with Luffy.

Robin narrowed her eyebrows as she noticed the unconscious Straw Hats.

Luffy grit his teeth and glared at his zombie. That was the same thing that the pigeon guy had gotten him with.

"Robin?" She turned towards her captain, "Can you take the others out of here? Me and Zoro will give you some time..."

He put his hand on the ground, made his legs into pumps, and accelerated his blood flow. Steam seeped from his skin.

Zoro drew his swords and watched as Robin reluctantly picked the fallen crew members up.

"W-What about me?" Sanji asked unsteadily. He seemed very uncoordinated from that burst of Haoshoku.

"Go with Robin, Sanji." Zoro told him. This wasn't a time for fighting. Especially after the zombie showed that it had all of Luffy's abilities.

Nami didn't say anything as she stared blankly into the air. Robin's legs formed under her unresponsive body.

"...Alright. Then I'll leave this to you two?" She asked, making her way out of the area with the others. They all had feet pick them up and run away. Sanji limped/ran with her. She formed arms to help support Sanji.

"Yeah, don't worry, Robin! We won't die to this guy!" Luffy grinned back at her.

Robin smiled back and nodded towards Zoro. He responded with the same gesture.

* * *

Oars watched the strange lady carry the other people away, but he didn't worry too much.

The one he wanted was right here, in front of him.

He didn't know why he wanted to eat this guy. It was just a strange feeling he had ever since he saw him.

Eating is all he knew. If he didn't eat, he would die.

Giving another roar, he charged at the two humans.

* * *

"You sure you wanted her to get out of here?" Zoro asked as Oars charged them.

"Yeah. She was the only one who could get them out of here. Unless, you're able to carry them all by yourself."

Zoro cringed. He didn't want to touch that disgusting pervert cook.

"You have a point."

"Kyutoryu:..."

Zoro formed 2 more heads and 4 more arms.

"...Asura!"

Luffy looked at him oddly.

"Hey, did you eat the Hana Hana Fruit too?"

A sweat drop rolled down Zoro's three heads.

"...No, I didn't."

He didn't say anything else as he and Luffy dodged Oars' mad dash.

* * *

"Hey! Lady! Come over here!"

Robin looked over to see a bunch of people waving her over. They seemed human.

"We might be able to help you all out!"

Sanji looked at her questioningly.

Robin shrugged her shoulders and brought all the Straw Hats to them.

* * *

When Oars had tried ramming his fist into Zoro, he deflected it with his three right arms.

This, "Shusui", was really heavy, but that meant he could use its weight for blocking. He held it in the same hand Yubashiri once was in.

Kitetsu was in his left still, bloodthirsty as ever.

Wadō was in his mouth. It was the only one he trusted in such a position.

"Hey, Zoro! Get out of the way!"

Zoro was snapped from his thoughts as he looked up to see the giant's ass falling towards him.

"Luffy! Your zombie really sucks!" He avoided getting flattened, but the air displacement sent him flying a little.

* * *

"Will you all keep an eye on my friends?"

"Yes! We'll keep them safe! Are you sure you don't want a shadow for extra power?"

Robin had met with the strange survivors of Moriah's shadow hunt. They showed her that by taking shadows in, she could be stronger.

It looked unpleasant though.

"No thank you. I'm sure that the other two have managed to deal some damage to Oars. I'll be off then."

She waved back to the humans and started running back to where Oars was.

Hopefully, Luffy and Zoro didn't have too much trouble.

* * *

Zoro glided up Oars' arm using his swords to dig into the preserved flesh. Oars screamed not in pain, but in rage.

It raised a fist to knock him off, but he dug his swords into the hand, and jumped with it.

"Alright, Zoro! Keep him like that!"

Zoro looked over to see the steam rising from Luffy. His hands were enlarged too.

"Luffy?! What are you doing using your "Balloon" at a time like this?!"

"This is different! Bone is harder than flesh!"

"What-?!"

He saw Luffy jump into the air, twisting.

"Gum Gum...!" His face showed his pain, but he went through with the attack.

"...Jet Gigant Storm!"

Oars flew into the remains of Moriah's mansion, demolishing the rest. Oars' body flattened against the onslaught of fists.

Luffy coughed out some blood, but he wasn't done! Not yet!

He continued to pound away into the zombie, taking no notice of his hands turning black or Moriah approaching the group.

* * *

Robin arrived to see Zoro supporting Luffy up. Oars' body was smashed into the building.

"Gah! Using those two moves at the same time...really tears me up inside!" Luffy laughed, even if his words weren't ones to laugh about. Blood seeped out of his mouth.

"You idiot. I don't think you needed to do that much to take him down. He pretty much just ran into all of our attacks."

Thinking about it, Zoro realized that's what Luffy always did.

"Try to avoid attacks, Luffy. You can't take everything headfirst."

"Luffy! Zoro!" They turned to see Robin approaching the two.

They didn't pay attention to her. They looked at the figure behind her, with scissors raised.

"ROBIN!" Luffy screamed. "WATCH OUT!"

Robin had stopped using mantra. She turned to see the shadow of Gekko Moriah plunge scissors into her shadow.

Before she fell to the floor, she heard her two crew mates and Hana screaming.

* * *

Sanji heard some distant crashes coming from the mansion.

After seeing Robin run off, he had been unsettled. He wanted to go too!

"ROBIN!"

That was Luffy!

Was Robin in danger?!

Sanji got up, but almost tripped to the ground.

He was still close to losing consciousness. The world was getting colder...

The cook exploded in anger! How could he just lay on the floor when his Robin-chan was in danger?!

"Wait! You can't move yet!" He ignored the protests of the Rolling Pirates, the people who were keeping an eye on the others, and he ran towards the mansion.

He also didn't notice Brook getting up. Having recovered from Oars' outburst.

* * *

"Kishishishishi! You're becoming a real bother to me, Straw Hat!"

Moriah stood above Robin, having switched with his shadow.

"You...! You...!" Luffy grit his teeth, causing cracking noises.

"You leek!"

"What?! How dare you call me that!"

Zoro sweated a little, knowing Luffy had already forgotten Moriah's name.

"Give back Robin's shadow!"

"Never! You'll only get it from me if you're able to make me say i-!"

Luffy's Jet Pistol hit him right in the stomach, interrupting him.

"Gah! You really want your friend to die right here?!" Moriah's shadow burst from the ground, ready to impale Robin.

"I have no need for any other shadow, except yours, Straw Hat! I can easily just get rid of her right now!"

His shadow screamed and disappeared.

"What?! How-?!"

"You can easily get rid of me. Isn't that what you said?"

He looked down to see Robin walking towards him.

"I doubt that I'm that weak." She glared at him and he felt like he was getting overwhelmed.

"Grr! I'm done with you all! Fine! With or without your shadow, I'll destroy you all!"

"Shadows Asgard!"

Robin retreated as it seemed that Moriah was gaining in size, many shadows came from nowhere, empowering Moriah.

He grew to a size larger than Oars. He started laughing at the Straw Hats.

"Kishishishishi! How do you like that?! Witness my power!"

He slammed his hand into the ground, causing massive cracks to form in the island. The Straw Hats ran as much as they could, away from the devastation.

"He truly has become a monster..." Robin looked past Moriah's form, noticing something far more frightening.

The sun was starting to come up. She could see the rays behind the clouds.

"Have we really taken this long to get our shadows back?!" Zoro panted, seeing the same thing as Robin.

"Hey, leek! If you don't want to die, give us our shadows back!" Luffy shouted at the monster Moriah.

"Even if I were to die or fall unconscious, you wouldn't get your shadows back!" Moriah grinned maliciously at the three Straw Hats.

Luffy didn't respond. He put his hand on the ground and made his legs into pumps.

"...Alright. Then don't expect me to go easy on you. Gear 2nd!" He cried out and steam burst from his skin.

Sanji came from the trees, just as he saw Luffy charge towards Moriah.

"Robin! Moss Head!" He ran down to his crew mates.

"Sanji." "Curly Brow."

They greeted him back. He stood next to them as Luffy punched Moriah with a "Pistol".

Brook came out of the forest and watched the sunlight descend on the three shadowless Straw Hats.

"Everyone! Run away! You'll die if you stay there!"

Moriah growled as he shoved Luffy into a spiked box made of his shadow. He threw it on the floor, and impaled it with his scissors, smashing it with his fist to drive them further into the box. More cracks formed in the earth from his strength.

"I won't back down here." Zoro looked up at him, "I have faith in Luffy. He can win this."

"Same with me." Sanji blew some smoke out as the sunlight came closer, "Luffy's strong enough to beat this leek."

"Sorry, Brook-san." Robin smiled at the skeleton, "Luffy owns my life. It would be pointless to continue living without him."

The three frowned though when they saw Luffy emerge from the shadow box, covered in blood. He saw the three looking at him just as the sunlight touched their heads.

Without a sound, their heads disintegrated, smoke rising from the point where the sunlight touched them.

He stared at their bodies for a bit longer, eyes widened.

Luffy turned his head to see a laughing Moriah. He was telling him that he should suffer for being so weak.

Luffy's fist turned black, he sneered at the man who had taken his family from him.

Giving one more fierce roar, he jumped into the sunlight, body turning completely black.

Moriah gasped when he saw Luffy jump straight into the sunlight, being able to sustain his form even as it burned.

He felt an overwhelming feeling emanating from the rubberman, coming closer and more powerful.

Moriah wanted to move, but found himself frozen in fear! This man was going to kill him!

Luffy smashed his fist into Moriah's face, making him lose control of his shadows.

The shadows erupted from his mouth, flying into the air.

Moriah slowly shrunk down into his normal form, Luffy landed next to him.

His body finally began to disintegrate, most of his upper body disappearing into the sunlight.

Just as the Straw Hats were about to evaporate completely, their shadows landed next to their feet, taking their original form.

* * *

Luffy laid on the ground, laughing happily. The three others took deep breaths as their bodies were returned to normal.

"Ah! That was so close!" He cried out as he laid in the dirt and rubble.

"I thought I was going to heaven there, for a moment." Robin stated with a blank face, her hand touching her head.

"Heh! It looks like we're still alive!" Zoro smiled as he checked to see if his body was alright.

"I would be happy if I were to go to heaven at the same time as you, Robin-chan!" Sanji looked over at everyone to see that they were alright.

"Y-You guys..." Brook stared at the Straw Hats, seeing that they were willing to risk their lives for their captain.

"I came here," A strange voice resounded throughout the area, "to warn Moriah of something like this happening. It looks like I'm too late."

A huge man stood near Luffy. He had a weird hat that looked like it had bear ears at the top. Wearing a black coat with a white target sign, pants with paw prints on them, he looked at the fallen Straw Hat captain.

"That man! He's Bartholomew Kuma! A Shichibukai!" Robin shouted as she crossed her arms.

He pocketed the bible he carried and was about to bring his arm down on the captain.

Black arms erupted from his body, but he seemed to not notice it. Luffy was being carried by Robin's "Delphinium".

"Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon!"

Zoro tried to cut Kuma, but he teleported to where Luffy was going to be.

A giant black arm sprouted next to him and tried to slap him away, but he deflected it with his palm, sending it flying away.

"Even with Busoshoku, you cannot hit me." He stated as he looked at Robin.

She managed to get Luffy over to her, but he had trouble moving.

Sanji appeared next to Kuma's head and kicked it. The Shichibukai didn't move, but Sanji fell to the ground in pain.

"Damn it! Is his head made of metal or something?!" He held his leg. It had sustained too much damage during this nightmare, and he had used "Diable Jambe" too much! His leg had reached its limit!

"I know where the rest of your crew is," Kuma stated as he looked like he was compressing air deep within a paw shaped bubble, "if you surrender your captain, I will let you all live."

"That won't happen!" Zoro used "Onigiri" on the man, cutting his jacket a little.

* * *

Luffy and Robin used their sensing ability to predict what Kuma would do.

They looked shocked when they predicted that everything around them would be destroyed if he were to complete his attack.

"Hey, devil!" Luffy said aloud. Robin looked at him, fearing what he would do now.

"If you are a part of me...then help me out! Don't you want to protect our family too?!"

His body didn't respond for a few seconds, but Luffy heard a roaring noise in his head.

Luffy's skin turned white and his heart pumped as fast as it could. Steam exploded from his skin.

"Luffy?! What are you doing?!"

"Sorry, Robin! I'm going to try to stop that guy!"

"No! Wai-!"

He disappeared, just as Kuma let his little paw shaped bubble fly towards the group.

Luffy wrapped himself around the bubble, and he grit his teeth.

His body expanded greatly as he contained the explosion of air. Blood flew from his mouth at the pressure.

He fell limply to the ground, motionless.

"LUFFY!" "LUFFY-SAN!" The Straw Hats cried out as they rushed towards their captain.

"Unfortunately," Kuma already had another little paw shaped bubble in his hands, "I can do this however many times I want."

"Ursa Shock."

* * *

Their surroundings exploded into dust from the force, a huge crater surrounded the epicenter.

Brook was knocked to the ground, his world becoming black.

Zoro was sent flying into the forest.

Sanji's body dug deeper into the ground, the impact forcing it further into the earth.

Luffy's body flew into Robin's and they both collapsed in a heap.

After seeing the devastation, Kuma slowly walked to where Luffy lied.

"Shishi Sonsen!"

Kuma gasped in surprise when Zoro cut deeply into his body, but he didn't feel any pain.

Zoro saw the sleeve he had cut fall away, revealing Kuma's cyborg body.

"So...you're a cyborg like Franky!"

"My body is much more advanced than Franky's." He continued to walk towards his prey.

"Hey-! Wait a minute!" Zoro prepared another attack.

"Hyakuhachi Pound Ho!" He sent one giant blade of wind at Kuma.

The Shichibukai just deflected it with his palms, and continued on his path.

Black arms erupted from his body, but he didn't stop.

He found Robin on top of Luffy, surrounding her captain with a blanket of black arms.

"I...I won't let you touch him!" She defiantly shouted as she glared at Kuma.

He reached down and arms erupted from his own, trying to twist and break his in half.

Kuma attempted to send Robin flying away, but she formed arms around his neck that she held on to as he used his power to repel her away from her captain.

It forced his neck to twist, but beyond that, no visible damage was done.

"Why do you try so hard, Nico Robin? Even when your own body has reached its limit?" He asked the woman who almost broke his metal neck.

She had a fierce look on her dirtied face and she hadn't stopped glaring at him.

"I am Luffy's 1st mate! I can't just let you take his life without doing anything!"

"It's pointless. I need to bring somebody's head back to the World Government." He retorted. Kuma opened his mouth and a light shined out.

Robin predicted a beam of light would be sent flying towards her, but she couldn't move quick enough to avoid it as it pierced through her shoulder and exploded behind her.

The arms disappeared, revealing Luffy to Kuma. He picked the Straw Hat captain up.

"Please!" He heard the man named Roronoa Zoro cry.

He looked over to see him kneeling on the ground towards him.

"If you're looking for someone's head, take mine!" Zoro had his face pointed towards the ground.

"Yours?" Kuma asked the kneeling man.

"I know mine might not seem like much now!" Zoro shouted, "but one day, I'll become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

"..You...you shitty Moss Head." Sanji crawled out from the hole he had made in the ground.

"Don't go...sacrificing yourself for all of us now. You know Luffy...Luffy won't like that." He sounded close to fainting. He was barely able to stand next to Zoro.

The swordsman noticed that his knees were shaking. One of his legs was a bit bent in the wrong direction.

This guy...got up even when his leg was broken.

"Hey...you fatty! If you want to take someone's life, then take mine!" He shouted at Kuma, his words were barely louder than a normal speaking tone.

"One day, I'll be the marine's greatest enemy! Black Leg Sanji!"

Zoro drove the hilt of one of his swords into Sanji's abdomen.

"You...! You...bastard..."

Sanji fell to the ground, finally losing consciousness.

* * *

Kuma watched this display, Luffy held at his side.

"What makes you think I'll listen to you, Roronoa Zoro?"

"Because...! Because Luffy is the man who will be the Pirate King! I can't let him die here!" Zoro shouted at Kuma, finally displaying his determined expression.

Kuma felt a little moved that someone had such faith in his captain.

"...Very well." He answered. He tried to lift Luffy into the air, but found that he was heavier than he used to be.

Looking at the hand that held Luffy, he saw Robin had attached herself to it.

"You also have great determination. Straw Hat Luffy is very lucky to have such faithful crew members."

Robin didn't say anything as she continued to try to shield Luffy from the Shichibukai.

She cried out in alarm when he put his palm on Luffy's head, extracting a tiny, translucent, black colored bubble from his head.

He put the bubble into Robin.

Pain shot through her body! Memories of being tortured suddenly appeared and she fell screaming to the ground.

"What did you do?!" Zoro unsheathed his swords, fury evident on his face.

"Don't worry, Roronoa Zoro. She will live. However..."

He tried to extract a large bubble of the same color as before from Luffy, but a white colored hand shot up to grab his wrist.

Deep, black eyes stared up into his.

Luffy tried to drive his claws deeper into Kuma's wrist, but Kuma forced some of the black bubble back into his body, causing Luffy to lose consciousness.

"...You will experience hell, Roronoa."

The black bubble he held was gigantic. It was half as tall as Oars was.

"This is all the accumulated pain Straw Hat Luffy has sustained here. It seems, he was already suffering from a pain of a different sort."

"Here, have a taste." Kuma took a little bit of the ball and it flew over to Zoro, entering his chest.

Pain unlike anything he had ever experienced before ran through his body, memories seeped into his brain.

"_What an incredible body!" The doctor with the purple afro exclaimed as he tore his flesh to pieces. _

"_It seems, that when Patient 1 eats meat, he regenerates lost tissue!" _

"_Good." The short pudgy man in black stood in the corner stated. _

"_That means you can take whatever you want from him." _

Zoro's body felt like it was being cut into a million pieces as he recalled the memory of being vivisected.

He fell to his knees, coughing up blood.

_He reached towards the door that had locked him in the dark room._

_Another day had gone by...and there was still no food..._

_He cried out in desperation! He needed food! He was going to die!_

_It's been days since he last had something to eat! _

_He gnawed on his hand and watched as blood spilled out of it. _

_Eat! Eat! Eat! _

_He looked at the bloody stump that used to be his hand. _

_Tears spilled out from his eyes as he realized what he had done. _

Zoro grit his teeth as blood seeped out his skin from the agony he felt.

_The man across from him screamed as he tore a piece of his shoulder off._

"_M-M-Monster!" He cried, even as he was escorted away. _

_He was left alone in the arena for a few minutes, chewing at the piece of meat he held in his hand. _

_Pain erupted from his arm as another hand appeared from it. _

_He cried, holding the previous stump._

_What had he done?! He had eaten a person! _

Zoro felt tears fall from his eyes. The pain was so real!

"That was one day." Zoro widened his eyes as he was brought back to reality.

"I wasn't able to take all of his pain away, but I managed to take 3 years of it away. That, plus the pain he sustained today lie in this bubble." He moved his hands toward the gigantic black bubble.

"How was it?" Kuma asked the horrified Zoro, "Do you wish to stop here?"

"No." Zoro replied, "Just let me choose a new location for this."

* * *

Brook woke up slowly, his body wracked with pain.

He looked to see Kuma being led by Zoro to somewhere away from the fallen Straw Hats.

Making sure he had his cane, he followed the two.

* * *

Zoro stared at the big black ball of pain that Kuma held out towards him.

He took a deep breath.

_Luffy looked at him with a small smile after he had described his past. His eyes held more pain than a man should ever have._

Zoro became resolute. He would save everyone by doing this.

_Before his head had disappeared from the sunlight, he saw the distraught expression Luffy wore._

_Luffy was losing his family, and there was nothing he could do about it._

Zoro plunged his hands into the ball, jumping right into it.

He remembered how Luffy had always fought for them.

Zoro clenched his teeth tight as blood spilled from his mouth.

It was time somebody else shouldered the suffering.

* * *

Robin managed to stop writhing in pain from the torture she had to experience.

She had suffered from some sort of ability that Kuma had. He had drawn something out of Luffy and put it into her.

She held her head as the new memories still ran rampant through her head.

"_Project Genesis is proceeding just as planned!" _

"_Wonderful. Ship the new samples away to the others." _

She knew that Luffy had been experimented on, but it wasn't pleasant experiencing it first hand.

Project Genesis seemed to haunt her even now. She noticed that Luffy wasn't spared from the tortures like she had.

Her memories were sealed away, and she wasn't going to go looking for them.

"_What is Patient 1's synchronicity with others from that project?" _

"_There is one particular patient in another facility! They've managed to minimize the withdrawal in that one, yes, they managed indeed!" _

"_Good. See how soon they can set up another experiment." _

Robin stumbled on a piece of debris. Extending her senses, she located Zoro and Kuma.

She had to reach those two!

These memories were beginning to drive her insane.

* * *

Brook was surprised when Robin had snuck up on him. He watched Zoro jump into the bubble of pain.

The grunts Zoro had produced were horrible. It sounded like refused to scream, but couldn't stop himself from making some sort of noise.

"Zoro!" He jumped again when he saw Robin run out into the area, even as blood poured from Zoro's wounds.

"You're up already? How impressive, Nico Robin." Kuma stated as he watched Zoro's muscles contract as he suffered through another spasm of agony.

"What did you do?!" She leaned next to the man.

She hadn't turned her mantra off.

Pain coursed through him into her and she groaned as she backed off.

"Zoro made a deal with me. He would take pain from his captain and I would stop my hunt for Straw Hat Luffy's head."

Robin stared at the scene before her. She could only kneel next to him and watch as he grit his teeth, blood seeping through his teeth and skin.

"..Robin..!"

"Zoro!" She moved next to him. He was kneeling and on his arms.

"...This...! This is...nothing..!" He growled out through his haze of pain.

"What are you talking about?! I'll go get Chopper-!"

"Don't!" Zoro nearly screamed at her, but had to stop as another wave of pain set in.

"You...can't let anyone else know...! There's already...too many people that know about this!"

He glanced in Brook's direction. The skeleton couldn't take his eyes off of Zoro.

"Nico Robin." Kuma suddenly stood next to her.

"The Revolutionary Army is looking for you." He had leaned down to whisper this information to her.

A moment of silence passed as she processed this information.

"What?!"

"They've been looking for you for a long time, Nico Robin. Ohara was a shining example of the World Government's cruelty."

"How would you know this?!"

"I'm a Shichibukai. I've also been around for a while, so I know of these things."

She glared up at the pawman.

"Are you going to try to kill me too?"

Zoro let out a loud grunt and tried to stand. Robin went to him and tried to get him to sit down.

"No." Kuma answered plainly.

"I just thought you should know."

"Know that without more strength..." Kuma started as he walked away.

"...more situations will arise when your family will have to suffer like this."

Robin's frown deepened as Zoro growled at the man.

* * *

"I'm...I'm alright, Robin! The pain's gone!" He slumped to the ground. A crimson puddle formed almost immediately.

"We need to patch your wounds up, Zoro..." Robin seemed deep in thought as she sensed for Chopper.

She was surprised when Zoro gripped her wrist tightly.

"Wait till that man leaves...I don't want them to get suspicious."

"I doubt they even know he was here."

"Remember...Nami tried warning us about something. She might have...might have been trying to warn us about...that man..." Zoro said between his panting.

He turned his body so he could sit against a piece of rubble. After closing his eyes and taking deep breaths into the air, he opened his eyes to see Robin wearing a depressed look.

"Hey...I'm going to survive this. Like I said...this is nothing."

Robin looked up. Apparently she had been thinking of something else.

"I was just telling Brook to go get the others. I cannot sense Kuma anymore."

He looked up to see that Brook was gone. She must have used her Hana Hana.

What a useful ability.

"You should be the 1st mate."

Now this was a shocker.

"Why should I be the 1st mate? The only thing I could do was plead with the enemy."

He didn't feel good as he admitted that. It hurt to know that was the only thing he was able to do.

"You took his pain, Zoro. You might have saved his life with that..."

Memories formed in his mind, painfully tearing away at his sanity.

"No!" Robin jumped.

"Gah...I'm sorry. Just another relapse from that thing."

She hesitated, her hand was raised towards him.

"Are...are you alright?"

She sounded worried. That was a change from her usual amused tone.

"Yeah...that bastard pushed some of Luffy's memories into me." He put a hand to his head.

He felt blood running like a river on his temple, but he didn't pay too much attention to that.

These memories were ripping into his mind! Changing his own views on the world!

"_Good news!" The doctor with the purple afro cried out to his black suited friend._

_He was laying on the table. Straps kept his arms down and a green stone was placed on his chest. _

"_The project was a success! They've managed to produce a child for Project Genesis!" _

"_Really?" The man seemed genuinely surprised, "What was the other patient's name?" _

"_Her name was...!" _

"...Robin!" He grit his teeth as the memory was too much.

They had gotten more samples from Luffy that day as they learned the "good news".

The news was too much for Zoro to handle. He didn't know what happened in the end, but he only knew that the two must never find out.

"I think you're a fine 1st mate, given what we've had to go through!" His breathing had increased.

"Zoro?! I'm sorry, but I'm taking you to Chopper now!"

"Hey, what happened here?!"

Sanji had appeared. He ran up to the two, despite his injuries.

Zoro looked his friend in his eyes.

"Nothing! Nothing...at all!"

* * *

Chopper looked over his patients. Both were a bit unusual.

Zoro was in critical condition. He had lost almost all of his blood, but thankfully, Ussop and Robin were universal donors and the Rolling Pirates had helped too.

They were very thankful that the group had gotten their shadows back. As a token of appreciation, the captain had given them a piece of vivre card that belonged to her mother, and a marriage proposal to all of the male Straw Hats.

They had all refused. Robin had refused for Luffy, since he was still unconscious.

That was the weird thing. His other patient was Luffy.

Who was still sleeping.

He had checked the time several times with Nami, who was still a bit cold from that thing Oars had done earlier. She had been conscious, but unresponsive from the attack. She had since then, regained her senses.

It had been more than 3 hours. He had checked twice.

This would usually be a good thing, but Luffy never slept more than 3 hours.

Sanji had looked awful as well. Chopper had set his leg with a splint, but had also given him medicine to speed his healing up.

The wonders of modern medicine would reduce his healing time to less than 2 days. The cook had profusely thanked the doctor for his skills, and he had brushed it off, calling the cook an idiot.

Somehow, all the treasure from Thriller Bark had appeared on their ship along with food supplies. They were going to throw a party, but decided to leave earlier than planned, though they did make graves for Brook's former crew mates.

Nobody should have to drift on the sea alone, even if they were only bones.

Robin had seemed a little more distant than usual, which wasn't really noticeable.

Sanji seemed depressed. He had barely made any comments filled with love towards the two female crew mates.

Brook was the same, though he played music for them at all times. It was a bit slower, and deeper than he had played for them before. Needless to say, it didn't lighten the mood around the ship any.

Zoro and Luffy were still unconscious, even after two days of sailing on the sea.

Little did everyone know, the next day, they would awaken at the same time.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think!**


	20. Truths Revealed: Luffy's Lament

**Hello again, everyone! Here's another chapter!**

**lol I forgot all about Duval. As soon as I saw it wasn't immediately Sabody Arc, I was like, "Damn it all." **

**Anyway! Hope you all enjoy the chapter! I've been getting disappointed with how it's "Bam! Bad thing! Bam! More bad thing!" and it seems a bit too out of control at times. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

Zoro narrowed his brow as he felt himself pulled from his nightmare.

It had been another one from Luffy's past. They seem to follow him even into unconsciousness.

He kept his eyes closed. It helped him deal with the pain that accompanied the memories.

His head throbbed in pain. He felt himself on a bed. They must have put him on the Thousand Sunny.

The ship felt like it was moving. The others must have sailed away from Thriller Bark already.

He slowly opened his eyes.

The pitch black eyes that the monster Luffy transformed into met his.

* * *

Chopper rushed into the room when he heard Zoro screaming. He had been eating breakfast outside in the Dining Area. Some of the Straw Hats had been sitting in the Dining Room as well and looked inside to see if they could help.

Zoro was shoving a demonized Luffy away from him, his hand was on its face.

"Chopper! Get this thing away from me!"

The monster just growled and clawed at Zoro, attempting to get a hold of him.

Chopper transformed into his Heavy Point and grabbed the devil and pulled him off Zoro. The devil had payed no attention to him, and instead reached after Zoro.

The thing was furious. It was growling and hissing at the swordsman.

Chopper rushed outside, called everyone to come out on deck, and threw Luffy into the sea.

Hopefully, he would revert back.

* * *

Luffy was falling through the darkness. Memories of his stay at the Facility were playing through his head, even as he saw nothing.

The presence he felt when he fell asleep was more noticeable. Before, it had been a slight feeling in the back of his head.

Now, its rage consumed Luffy. His vision was red with hate as he viewed his memories.

Red faded back into black, and Luffy found himself choking on sea water.

He opened his eyes to see the sky. The white fluffy clouds floated through the air and he saw his family . They all stood around him as he managed to take a few deep breaths.

"Luffy?" Nami was the first one to speak, "How are you feeling?"

He looked at her. Fear could be sensed from all of them and they looked tense.

"Huh?" All of Luffy's thoughts were summed up in one question.

"What she means, Straw Hat, is "are you not going to turn psycho monster on us?"."

"No...I don't think so...was I?" Luffy asked as he looked at his friends.

None of them looked too threatened, but he realized they weren't tense because of him.

They had pulled something else out of the water.

"Um...hi! Thanks for rescuing us!" The green haired lady said as she held a starfish in her arms.

The most interesting thing about her was, that she had the lower half of a fish.

"A REAL MERMAID?!"

* * *

After some quick explanations, they learned the mermaid's name was Keimi, and her mentor and pet's name was Pappug. He was a starfish that thought he was human early in his life.

The Straw Hat crew was overjoyed when they learned that they could have reliable help on getting to Mermaid Island, the next island, but they needed to help Keimi save her boss from some kidnappers.

Her boss was the owner of a Takoyaki stand. She was sure that he would serve them the best takoyaki they had ever eaten if they saved him.

Luffy expressed a strong desire to save the boss. He had been very hungry for a long time, and a free meal that didn't consume any of the Straw Hats food supplies, was the best!

The name, "Hatchin" sounded familiar to some of them, but they figured they would find out who it was later.

It would take a day to reach the location, so many of the crew partied with the mermaid.

Two Straw Hats decided to abstain from the celebrations.

* * *

Zoro and Robin were in the Crow's Nest. Zoro was surprised to see the historian in his haunt, but he didn't mind. They were family, after all.

"Excuse me, Zoro? Could you hand me that barbell over there?"

He looked over to where she was pointing.

It was one of the 5 ton weights he used for light work-outs. A few times, he had dropped it on accident and it had splintered the wood, angering Franky.

A sweat drop rolled down his forehead.

"...Are you sure you don't want another one? How about you at least go down 4.9 tons?"

She smiled at him.

"Might I remind you that you've been out of it for a while, Zoro? I have been taking time to work on strengthening myself."

Zoro sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"So, that paw bastard's words really got to you, didn't they?"

He didn't notice a slight flinch coming from Robin, but he did pick the weight up and bring it to her.

"Thank you." Her arm turned black and a few more sprouted to lift the weight.

Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"That's cheating."

She giggled.

"Who would complain? Would you?"

He had to admit, he was a bit impressed. She was able to lift 5 tons, despite looking so thin and using a few arms for support.

That was a trait she seemed to share with Luffy. No matter how thin Luffy was compared to him, he was much stronger than he looked.

Now only if they could make him a bit smarter...

Zoro noticed other weights being lifted off the ground, various limbs sprouted from underneath and lifted them.

The weights weren't very heavy, but he knew that it would all add up.

"Don't hurt yourself."

"Don't worry about me. My Devil Fruit allows me to heal physical wounds completely."

He turned to look at her in shock and she giggled at his reaction.

"Hey now, that really is cheating."

* * *

It was now nighttime. The two Straw Hats had been working on their strength, and Zoro was surprised that Robin could actually work much longer than he could. Benefits of the Hana Hana Fruit, of course.

He left the room. Everyone else had gone to sleep.

Zoro groaned a little as he held his head. If he were to go to sleep now, night terrors would await him in his dreams.

Walking over to the side of the ship, Luffy could be spotted leaning on the railing.

"Hey Zoro." His captain turned to look at him, "Strange seeing you up so late."

Zoro stood next to him and looked out at the waves. The moon reflected off the moving waters and he felt calmed by the sight.

"And it's a little surprising seeing you here. I thought you were past that whole, "3 hour" sleep after your little nap?"

"Yeah, I don't think I have to sleep for only 3 hours, but it's a habit for me now. I can't stop." Luffy replied. He sounded deep in thought as he stared at Zoro.

Zoro felt a little unnerved by the staring.

"What happened after that guy hit me with that thing?"

Zoro's expression didn't change, but he panicked inside.

"If I told you that nothing happened, would you believe me?"

Luffy frowned and moved so that he could see Zoro better.

"No, I wouldn't."

Zoro was disappointed. He didn't know if he could lie to Luffy, especially if the man ordered him to tell him what happened. His pride wouldn't allow it.

"It's weird..." Luffy said as he continued to stare.

"...I remember that guy pulling something out of me..."

Zoro kept his eyes trained on the darkened horizon.

"...and I felt better when he did that. Did that really happen, or...?"

Closing his eyes, Zoro knew he couldn't keep it a secret. Not when Luffy suspected something.

"Luffy...something did happen."

Luffy watched as the swordsman looked him in the eyes.

"But before I tell you...how do you think you will react?"

"I'll kick you out of my crew and eat you." Luffy replied nonchalantly with a straight face.

Zoro jumped back in surprise and watched as Luffy laughed at him.

"Shishishishi! Got you!" He grinned widely at Zoro.

"What? Do you think that I'm that stupid?! I'm sure whatever you did, you did it because you meant well."

"Luffy, you suck." Zoro walked back to his spot and heard Luffy chuckle some more.

"I know, right?! Just tell me already!"

Zoro looked at Luffy some more, receiving a grin for the effort, and sighed.

"Alright, I'll tell you." Zoro shifted a bit to get more comfortable (and in a better position if he needed to protect himself to finish his explanation).

"It happened right after that guy hit you with that air bomb."

"Yeah, that sucked. Felt like my insides were going to shoot out of my body!"

Zoro paused.

"Not a pleasant image, Luffy."

"Shishishi! Sorry! Keep going!"

"Well, that guy did another one."

"Really?! Jeez, what a cheap ability!"

"Luffy..."

"Alright, alright! Sorry!"

Zoro glared a little at Luffy, making sure he wouldn't interrupt.

"Anyway, he was going over to kill you, but me and Robin tried to stop him."

Taking another look at Luffy, he noticed that he looked a little sad.

"Unfortunately, we weren't strong enough to drive him off. So, I..."

Zoro cringed, knowing that the next thing he says could potentially get him killed.

"I...made a deal with him."

Luffy didn't look happy, in fact, his expression was a combination of anger and sadness. He kept quiet though, silently communicating that he wanted Zoro to continue.

"In exchange for taking your pain, he would not kill you."

"Pain? What do you mean by that." It wasn't a question. It was an order.

"He...I don't know, "pushed" the pain out of your body and he transferred it to me."

Zoro was nervous. He could see Luffy shaking a bit in the moonlight.

None of them moved for a while. Luffy staring at Zoro in his mixed emotional state and Zoro stared back, ready for whatever Luffy punishment he would inflict upon him.

"Who else knows?"

"Robin, Brook, and Sanji."

Luffy looked out to the sea, hiding his face from Zoro's view.

"There's also something else I think you should know."

"There's more?" Luffy's voice was strained.

"That paw bastard, Kuma, said that the Revolutionary Army is looking for Robin."

"Revolutionary...? Who are...? It doesn't matter. Do you think that means they'll be our enemies?"

"You don't know who the Revolutionaries are?"

Zoro then remembered that he was talking to Luffy.

"Nevermind. I don't know if they are or not, but they're the major enemies of the World Government at the moment."

Luffy's fist could be heard clenching, the knuckles popping loudly.

"The World Government wants Robin too..."

Keeping a stoic expression, Zoro felt a little tired.

The World Government was against them, and now this other group wanted Robin for unknown reasons.

Things were not looking good.

"...I'd like to be alone, Zoro."

"Luffy?"

"Please." Luffy kept his face hidden still. He was shaking a little, in either rage or despair, Zoro didn't know.

"Alright, I'll go get some sleep." The idea did not appeal to him, but he wouldn't disobey Luffy. Even if he had to go through those nightmares, he could take comfort knowing that Luffy had taken the news better than Zoro thought he would.

* * *

Luffy kept his mouth tightly shut as Zoro left so he could keep his growls silent.

Half of his face was transformed and Luffy felt like tearing the swordsman into pieces for doing what he did. Zoro had done the same thing Robin had done! Sacrificing himself for his sake!

He agonized over how he felt everyone was always protecting him! Ace, Robin, and now, Zoro?!

It was too much! He was too weak!

Quickly realizing that he was gripping the railing too hard, Luffy let go and made his way to the Crow's Nest.

He sensed Robin was still there. Why she was there, was beyond him, but he wanted to have a talk with her.

* * *

After Zoro had left her alone, Robin decided to experiment with her Devil Fruit powers.

Seeing Moriah do the things he did gave her a few ideas, though it would be difficult on trying to copy his exact technique.

She formed her entire body in front of her. It stood thoughtless and she could see herself through her copy's eyes.

"Hana?" Asking in the air aloud to see if her devil could hear her. She received no response.

Frowning and closing her eyes, she focused a bit more. Robin willed her clone to respond.

Minutes passed by. Sweat formed on her brow as she continued concentrating.

Surprisingly, the clone started to move without any input from her.

"Gee, Robin-chan, I didn't know that this was possible."

Robin saw Hana walking around the Crow's Nest. She inspected the weights she had lifted earlier.

"I know you want to get stronger, but isn't this a tad too much?"

"You know why I want to get stronger, Hana."

Her mimic giggled a little.

"Oh my, finally getting serious about the rubberboy, I see? Well, I don't mind."

Hana moved about the room, swinging her arms and legs as if she were dancing.

"This...this is actually the first time I've ever felt real air..." She seemed to be in awe at the whole situation.

Robin sat down on the ground in a lotus position.

"Would you mind joining me, Hana?" She pat the ground next to her, "I would like to ask a few more questions."

Hana looked at her coyly. Robin now knew how she looked when she gave the same expression.

"I don't know, Robin-chan...it seems like you're about to have more company soon..."

Activating her mantra, she realized the devil was correct. Luffy's presence was felt coming her way.

"How did you know-?"

"Robin-chan..." Her voice sounded as if she were speaking to a child, "...you don't have to turn your mantra off. I thought you would have realized that long ago."

The thought scared Robin. Whenever she used her mantra too much, it felt like she was exposed to invisible eyes. She didn't like the feeling.

"Hope you enjoy your chat, Robin-chan ~" Hana disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

Luffy peaked into the room just as Hana completely disappeared.

"Robin? I need to talk with you." He sounded different from his usual obnoxious and boisterous self.

She could sense that he was in a whirlwind of emotions. Anger, sadness, confusion, and hopelessness emanated from him.

The feelings were very unexpected. Luffy wasn't one to allow the World to get him down. What made him this way?

"Sure, Luffy. I can talk." She watched as he sat next to her, forearms resting on his knees.

They just stared at each other for a moment. Robin knew that Luffy did this to unsettle whoever he talked to. It was a way of manipulating the nervousness of the listener.

"I heard what happened from Zoro..."

"Oh my..." She looked away and realized the cause for his emotional disturbance.

"...I just wanted to know what happened exactly from you."

She felt unsure. That day was full of failures on all ends of the Straw Hats. The only good thing that happened that day was Brook joining them.

"Would you mind letting me know what Zoro told you?"

Luffy retold her what Zoro had said. How he had made a deal with Kuma. How he had told him that Kuma said the Revolutionary Army was looking for her.

She listened quietly, thinking of what words to reply with.

"And so, that's what he said. Do you have anything else to add?"

Robin thought of the memories both she and Zoro had been subjected to when he had removed Luffy's pain.

"No, I don't have much to add."

She couldn't tell him of that. Of all the things she could say, she must not reveal that she had seen into his memories.

Robin stretched her legs out and took a similar position Luffy was in. She hid her face from him.

"...I think we should go to the Revolutionaries." She saw Luffy's face contort into an enraged expression, "They might be able to provide assistance against the World Government."

"Are you crazy?!" He shot up to his feet, "I don't even know who they are! How could we just go to them?! They're looking for you! They might want to capture you...and! And!" He gripped his head and ran his hands through his hair. Luffy grit his teeth and had a crazed look on his face.

Robin thought she saw a tear peaking out from one corner of his eye.

"Luffy..." She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.

His head rushed up and she looked into his eyes, activating her mantra as she did so.

Despair flooded through her body. She felt weak and helpless, as if the World had put an immense weight on her shoulders and she didn't have any support or help.

"A captain...a captain is supposed to protect his crew, Robin..."

The look of utter defeat on his face hurt her.

"...I can't! I can't even do that! I can't even keep my own prom-!"

Luffy stopped yelling when he felt a slender pair of arms wrap themselves around his neck.

"Wha-?"

"Stop that. Just...stop that." Robin muttered as she held Luffy a little tighter.

Luffy was in shock as he felt his friend shudder a bit.

"You are a great captain, Luffy."

"But-"

"You have protected us all. I've seen everything, Luffy. I was with you at the start of your adventure, remember?"

He took a step back, but Robin had followed.

"A captain shouldn't let his own crew sacri-!"

"We did those things because we're your family, Luffy!" She shouted in his ear, her voice a little strained from the emotions she shared with the young man.

Luffy felt his own mix with hers, blending together to make him feel...happy.

"You idiot..."

* * *

They stayed like that until the sun peaked above the horizon. The rays of light spilled into the room.

Robin pulled away and Luffy saw a tear fall from her eye.

"...Wouldn't you do the same for us?"

Luffy was at a loss for words as Robin formed a small smile.

"...Thank you, Robin."

Her forehead knocked together with his.

"You've protected us, Luffy. Please, allow us to do the same for you..."

Luffy felt peaceful as he stared into her brown orbs.

Everything finally felt right. Everything made sense and he believed in her words.

He would have to apologize to Zoro.

* * *

**As always, mixed feelings on the ending, but hope you all enjoyed! Please, let me know what you think!**


	21. Pain of a Mistaken Man

**Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you all to enjoy!**

**I was going to write more, but I couldn't stop laughing due to my own imagination! I'll write more tomorrow, I think. **

**I'll mention a few things that I think should be elaborated on. **

**Garp did not tell the Straw Hats that Dragon is Luffy's father.**

**The Straw Hats do not know their current bounties due to the Franky Family never showing them. **

**Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Brook are all getting closer to their post-timeskip abilities, though they aren't as strong as they would be after the 2 years. Zoro is in too much pain to really do anything special, though. **

**And...I forget anything else I wanted to mention. If I didn't have some iconic scene in the story, then that means that they didn't do it. I think. Whatever, take it with a grain of salt, ask me questions, or just go with the flow!**

**Hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

The Thousand Sunny entered the enclosure that had been floating ahead of them. Fortified towers surrounded them, and they all seemed to belong to the pirate base before them.

All of the Straw Hats knew that this was a trap laid for them. "Hachin" was supposedly kept here as a hostage.

Keimi and Pappug were elated that the Straw Hats had helped them! They were such kind people!

Nami frowned and recalled a certain "Hatchan" from the past. He had been a member of Arlong's pirate crew.

A cage suspended by a wooden structure held a man covered in black. His hair was styled like a star, and he appeared to be bound by rope.

"Keimi! Run! It's a trap!"

"Eh?! It is?!"

Many of the Straw Hats facepalmed as they couldn't believe that anyone could not see that this was a trap.

Luffy and Robin had already sensed many presences underneath the water. They seemed human, though three of them felt a little different.

Zoro felt the breathing of everything around him. Their seemed to be a different kind of flow coming from the water.

Sanji didn't know what the deal was, but he felt something was off. It felt like the water had much more than the usual sea-life.

* * *

"He looks too familiar..." Nami muttered as she looked at the black covered man. His shape was very familiar.

"Well, Nami-swan, let's just ask him." Sanji told her as he stepped forward a bit towards the trapped man.

"Hey! What happened after we left Cocoyasi Village?!"

"Oh! Before the marines arrived, I was able to escape! They managed to catch Chew, but Arlong and Kuurobi were already dead!"

The man stopped as he realized what he had just said.

"Oh crap!"

"Yep," Sanji took his cigarette in one hand and blew smoke out, "that guy's one of Arlong's men."

He looked over at Nami and Luffy.

Nami still had a frown on her face, but she narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be thinking of something.

Luffy's skin had turned white at the mention of Arlong. Apparently, he still remembered the merman, but he didn't do much else. He also looked at Nami.

"What should we do, Nami?"

Sanji heard Zoro yell at Keimi that they weren't friends with Hatchan. He proceeded to swing his legs at the green haired neanderthal for his rudeness!

* * *

Robin knew who this man was. She had kept silent before he had revealed himself.

Luffy looked angry, but he had enough sense to ask Nami what they should do. She was the one that had past history with the octopus merman.

She looked at the mermaid, Keimi.

Keimi looked upset. She was shaking and appeared to be closer to the side of the ship.

"Excuse me, Mermaid-chan," Robin stopped her and Pappug from jumping over the side of the ship, "please wait until we have made a decision."

"What are you talking about?!" Keimi yelled at her, "We thought you all were nice, but it turns out that you're going to leave my friend here!"

"That's not the case." Robin looked back to Nami and Luffy. Nami had reached a conclusion about what they should do.

"Believe me, Mermaid-chan. Octopus-san was part of a group that caused Nami great pain in the past. It is her choice whether or not we'll help him."

"Everyone! Though as much as it pains me, let's go save that octopus." Nami announced as turned to look at all of the Straw Hats.

Keimi was a bit surprised, but a wide grin appeared on her face.

"See? Nami isn't going to leave a friend of a friend to suffer in a place like that."

Keimi rushed over to Nami and gave her a hug. The navigator just returned a small one and turned back towards Hatchan.

* * *

Nami held her head in one hand. Seeing Hatchan brought terrible memories forth, but she suppressed them quickly.

Now was not the time to remember the past. All she had to focus on was that Hatchan was Keimi's friend.

The other Straw Hats took positions around her, readying to assault the pirates that had taken Hatchan hostage.

"Nami-chan..." Hatchan muttered to himself as he heard her declaration.

* * *

Suddenly, fish burst from the surface of the ocean and flew around the Thousand Sunny.

"Oh! Which one looks the freshest?!" Luffy asked as he licked his lips. He then noticed the men riding on top of them.

"Zoro! Go free Takohachi!"

"Really...is your stomach the only thing that you think with?" Zoro smirked and followed his captain's orders.

Maybe the octopus would serve them free alcohol as well? More of a reason to save him.

He jumped at the cage, easily reaching it with his strength. He cut the iron bars and the rope that had kept the cage suspended. Zoro remembered that mermen were stonger in the water.

* * *

The fish that were above the Thousand Sunny started to drop bombs that were reflected and redirected by Luffy and Sanji.

Before they could retreat back into the water, arms sprouted from many of them and broke them in half.

One of them was shot out of the air, courtesy of Ussop and one of the Thousand Sunny's cannons.

Chopper enthused at how fast Ussop was able to take one of them out. He had just taken a second to aim the cannon and managed to blow the fish out of the air.

Another Flying Fish Rider came towards them. He was swinging around a massive metal mace, preparing to ram them.

"Hey, Luffy! You take the fish, I'll get the guy!"

"Okay!"

Luffy and Sanji jumped into the air, intercepting the man before he reached them.

Shoving a foot into the man's face, Sanji watched as Luffy headbutted the fish and slammed it into the Thousand Sunny's grassy porch.

Sanji landed on the railing of the ship. He looked over to see that Zoro had already freed Hatchan and the octopus punched 3 other mermen.

Chopper was dancing around Luffy in his Heavy Point. He was in awe at how strong everyone was.

* * *

"This is my first battle as a member of the Straw Hats...it's time I show my strength!" Brook exclaimed as he jumped into the air towards some of the Flying Fish Riders.

"Brook. I might not be very happy that we're not going back to Laboon immediately, but I suppose I can help you out in battles from now on." The voice in his head told him.

"How can you help me, Ryuma?" He thought to the voice, hoping it would be able to hear him.

He didn't want the others to think that he was crazy in the brain by talking aloud (though he didn't have a brain! Yohohohoho!).

Brook heard Ryuma laughing as well. It seems that he got the joke.

"It's been 10 years since we last saw each other. Brook, you haven't realized your true power over the Yomi Yomi Fruit."

Brook stung his violin with his sword, announcing his attack.

"Nemuriuta Flanc!" The skeleton watched as the Flying Fish Riders fell asleep along with their fish and fall towards the ocean.

"Don't you two fall asleep as well!" Nami was heard yelling in the background.

He fell back towards the water and started running on top of the waves.

"True power? I use music as my true power!"

"That's right, but you have an unrealized power, Brook. Your ability has the power of your soul behind it!"

Brook cut the Riders before they sank beneath the water.

"My soul?" He asked Ryuma.

"Yes, but it will take a while before you're able to use its power. Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Brook remained silent to convey his confusion.

"I am your devil, Brook. You haven't been able to use your power because I've been separated from you this entire time."

"Devil? But how did I survive?" Brook made his way towards Zoro who was resting on the pirate base's docks. His legs felt like they were cramping.

He saw Luffy grab a hold of one of the Riders that he had put to sleep. All of the Straw Hats watched as he crashed into one of the buildings on the base.

"You survived because even though I was separated from you, you still had your body. Even if the devil is gone, your body is still one that has eaten the Devil Fruit. It is unable to help its user though."

Brook almost laughed.

"So, you're telling me you're going to help me out?"

Brook felt like Ryuma was nodding at him.

"Yes, I'm going to help you out, Brook. Feel grateful."

* * *

"Take it easy, Brook." Brook was brought back to the real world when Zoro had addressed him, "Almost all of the Flying Fish are down..."

Zoro had a grimace on his face as he attempted to stand up. He seemed to be in great pain and he held his head with one hand.

"Zoro-san...you still look a little injured..."

"That doesn't matter...we're almost done here."

A Flying Fish Rider was coming towards them, but an unexpected person had come to help them out.

"Rokutoryu: Tako Giri!"

Hatchan cut the Rider and landed next to the two swordsmen.

"Oh? Now you're helping us?" Zoro asked. He had been ready to defend himself, but it was good that Hatchan decided to help them.

But that technique and name looked and sounded a lot like his own...

"Nyu! I thought you guys needed some help!" Hatchan smiled at them.

"Die, fishman!" Hatchan turned around to see a spear rapidly approaching his face.

"Right! Excuse us!"

Zoro and Brook flew by Hatchan, preventing him from becoming skewered octopus and defeating the Flying Fish Rider.

Hatchan stood there in fear and shock.

"My...my life just flashed before my eyes..."

"Gotten rusty, haven't you, Hachi?" Zoro smirked at the fishman.

"Thanks..."

* * *

The Flying Fish Riders tried to get close to the Straw Hat crew, but they were having massive trouble trying to even hit one of them.

A mace flew through Nami's mirage and her lightning storm hit many of them.

Robin's arms formed on many of them, twisting and breaking many bones.

Chopper used a combination of Jumping Point and Arm Point to use "Carving Hoof Diamond" to fling the Riders away from the ship.

Franky didn't have to do much. He just stood there and took the bullets without harm and used "Strong Hammer" on a few that got too close.

* * *

Everyone's attention was turned to the pirate base when sounds of destruction rang through the air.

Luffy ran out of the building he had crashed into.

A gigantic bison followed him. A masked man sat on top of it.

Luffy himself stood there and tuned out the man's ranting to his men.

"Who is that guy?"

Luffy looked at Zoro, who had his swords drawn.

"You won't believe who it is! I'll show you!"

Luffy jumped up and smacked the guy in the mask as he was talking.

He had a vague resemblance to Sanji, but none of the Straw Hats realized why he was after the cook.

* * *

"The marines have mistaken us for too long, "Black-Leg Sanji"!"

"What?!" The chef yelled over the railing of the Thousand Sunny, "How could they possibly mistake me for you?!"

Hatchan looked confusedly at Luffy and Zoro.

"Don't you guys know?" The fishman asked the two Straw Hats.

"Know what?" Zoro was getting interested.

"They have new bounties for all of you." Hatchan reached into his pockets and pulled some posters out.

He had been keeping track of the Straw Hats' progress, just in case they got new members or if they had changed their looks.

Luffy and Zoro were impressed at their new bounties. It seems that Luffy's was a bit low, only 300 million belli.

They started laughing loudly when Hatchan pulled out Sanji's.

"What's so-?" Brook looked over their shoulders and started to laugh hysterically.

* * *

The other Straw Hats looked at their laughing friends, wondering why they were doing that in front of an enemy.

Luffy's arm could be seen stretching towards them. He had something in his hand.

Robin was the closest one, so she took what seemed like posters from his hand.

"Oh my..." She smiled as she looked at what was on them.

"What are they, Robin?" Everyone had walked up to the historian.

"They're wanted posters. They've been updated for most of us, save for Brook." She held out one wanted poster from the rest.

"I think this is why that man wants your head, Sanji."

* * *

Sanji took the poster and looked at it.

He took on the most horrified and pained look any of the Straw Hats had ever seen.

"Who...who is this...?" He muttered in a downtrodden voice and he fell to his knees, dropping the poster.

Franky picked it up, looked at it, and started laughing.

"YOU!" Sanji swung his leg at Franky, causing the air to ripple. Franky dodged backwards and dropped the poster.

"YOU SHUT UP! RIGHT NOW!"

Ussop looked at it, and covered his mouth, fearing that Sanji would hear his snickering.

Unfortunately, Sanji heard him.

"THIS MUST BE A MISTAKE!" Sanji stood over Ussop's beaten body.

"Hey, Sanji! I think it looks exactly like you!" Luffy yelled from the docks.

"Like two peas in a pod!" Zoro added.

"YOHOHOHAHAHA- haghaghag-!" Brook had started choking from his laughter and fell to his hands and knees.

"I'M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU!" Sanji had tears falling from his eyes as rage and depression reigned inside his body.

"You bastard!" The man known as Duval yelled back at Sanji.

* * *

He started listing his hardships. How he had suffered from everyone calling him Sanji! How the Marines had chased him, claiming he was "Black-Leg"!

Duval didn't notice how Sanji practically ran on top of the water towards the docks.

"Just what did I do?!" Duval screamed into the air.

"Give me my life back!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

A black shoe hit Duval square in the face, sending his head flying back.

Sanji didn't know whether to cry or to kill Luffy, Zoro, and Brook.

But he did know that this man must not keep his bounty poster alive.

* * *

**Meh, maybe not the most tearjerking scene in the series, but I don't know how many people expected someone to look exactly like Sanji's wanted poster.  
**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	22. Sabody Arc (Part 1)

**Hello again, everyone! Hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

**Been a while since I last updated. I'm still going through the Sabody Arc, and I stumbled a bit after I realized I would have to integrate the Supernovas within this kind of storyline. I managed to come up with something, so I hope you all enjoy.**

**As always, it seems, I'm going to post bits of this arc and later, combine it all into one chapter. This is just to let you all see how its going during the making, so please bear with me. **

**You might notice that I try to follow the storyline almost exactly with a few different details. I do this because I like writing in a way that if someone didn't read/watch One Piece, they'll know what's happening, but if they don't know what something is then they better look it up. **

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"Wow! This takoyaki is too good!" Luffy cried out from his seat. He shoved more of the delicious treat inside his stretched mouth.

After Sanji had messed that guy, Duval, up, the Flying Fish Riders had given up almost immediately. The poor guy had his face demolished by Sanji, and the Straw Hats left with Hatchan and his friends.

Sanji was pretty impressed by the takoyaki. It was really good! Something he hadn't expected from the octopus-merman.

Ussop, Chopper and Brook had sat with them at Hatchan's takoyaki stand.

Chopper was trying to imitate Luffy by stuffing as much takoyaki in his mouth as he could.

Brook had never had takoyaki before! This was a great meal!

Nami sat nearby, away from the stand itself. She was slowly eating the takoyaki.

"Um...how is it...Nami? Does it taste alright?"

She turned to look at Hatchan who looked very nervous. He was sweating as he looked at her.

"I won't forgive what you guys did to me and my village." She stated.

"N-N-No! Of course not! I didn't expect it to! I was just hoping that the takoyaki was good!"

The octopus fishman held his hands up, trying to persuade her that he meant what he said.

Nami smiled when she watched Hatchan squirm so more.

"Don't worry, Hachi. It tastes delicious!"

Hatchan stood frozen for a second.

"R-Really?"

Hatchan was probably the best fishman in Arlong's pirate crew. He didn't discriminate against humans, or treat her like the others did.

He seemed like a nice guy. Aside from the fact that he was working under Arlong.

"Hey! You guys! Young Master!"

It seemed they would have guests in a bit.

* * *

"Let's go, Rosy Life Riders!"

"Yes, Boss!"

They had been visited by Duval and his newly named gang, the Rosy Life Riders.

Duval had been grateful for what Sanji had done for him. The cook had rearranged the man's face so it didn't look like that awful wanted poster.

He thought he looked beautiful. Duval had claimed that Sanji was now his master and that he would provide assistance when it was needed.

Sanji thought about ripping the man's Den Den Mushi number up, but had decided against it. He might really be useful later on.

* * *

After the Straw Hats had eaten their fill, Keimi, Pappug, and Hatchan brought them towards their next destination.

Pappug started to explain that there were only two ways of getting into the "New World", the second half of the Grand Line. One, was by submitting a request to the World Government to go through Mariejois and leaving their ship behind.

Some of the Straw Hat crew started to yell at Pappug, only to be silenced. There was another way that they could take which would allow them to pass through the Red Line with their ship.

They would have to go to Fishman Island.

Sanji had started fantasizing that one of his dreams were about to come true, but everyone ignored him.

First, they had to head to the Sabody Archipelago to get their ship coated. The ship coating would allow the Thousand Sunny to sink towards Fishman Island. A bad coating would get them and the ship killed, but Hatchan said he knew someone that they could trust to do it for them.

* * *

The Straw Hat's initial reaction to the Sabody Archipelago was one of awe. The place looked surreal with all the bubbles in the air among the gigantic trees.

Seeing the flora, Robin became a little worried.

"Nami-chan?" The navigator turned towards the historian, "Is this alright? Won't the Log Pose be affected?"

"Oh, that's right! Right now, the Log Pose is pointing towards Fishman Island."

"Don't worry about that." Hatchan caught their attention, "The Sabody Archipelago is just a bunch of trees. There's not magnetic field."

Hatchan explained that the Archipelago was just made up of huge mangrove trees. The Archipelago was visited mostly by pirates wanting to go to Fishman Island and people waiting for the World Government to approve their requests to go through Mariejois.

* * *

Luffy, Ussop, Chopper, Robin, Brook, and Pappug disembarked.

Robin was curious about the bubbles floating into the air, and Pappug explained that the tree's roots excreted a special type of resin. When the trees breathed, the resin would be filled with air and lift up from the ground, making the bubbles.

Robin felt the resin with her hands. She felt disgust well up from within when she saw that it was sticky.

Wiping her hand on Ussop (who complained), she looked to see some of the other Straw Hats checking the island out. Chopper was watching Luffy, who had decided that he wanted to go to the top of the bubbles. The bubbles were able to support his weight and he climbed higher and higher.

Luffy eventually fell to the ground, making a large crater. He had claimed that the bubbles started popping all of a sudden, and he was sent to the earth.

* * *

Hatchan tried to get them to promise something, but Luffy tuned him out.

Nami promised for him, which was the best the fishman could hope for. He knew he couldn't go up against Luffy, but he could only hope they would never encounter a World Noble. They were known to frequent this Archipelago.

Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Robin, and Brook decided to explore this strange place. They heard from the merfolk that this was a great place for tourists.

Zoro, Ussop, Sanji, and Franky stayed behind for various reasons.

Zoro had fallen asleep. He was unaware that some of them had left.

Ussop and Franky started to repair the Thousand Sunny. Ussop asked if Franky could teach him some better techniques and the cyborg was more than happy to teach Ussop.

Sanji...

"_Oh, I wonder who will be my brave knight that will protect all of my treasure...?" _

"It's me!"

Sanji retold how he had come to Nami's rescue to Ussop.

Franky had gone below the ship to do some more internal repairs.

"You really do whatever she asks, won't you?" Ussop asked as he looked at Sanji in pity.

The man was a slave, or as he was shouting out now, he was a slave to love.

Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Zoro walking off.

* * *

Zoro turned towards the two screaming idiots with a scowl on his face.

"Hey, you were still here?!"

"Wait! Where do you think you're going?!"

"I'm just taking a walk." He replied as calmly as he could. Maybe if he were to show them some kind-

"Just stop right there, you damn lost child!"

"Don't go wandering off on your own! We'll never be able to find you here!"

"I'm not that helpless!" Zoro yelled at the two, his patience running out quickly.

"The freaking trees have numbers on them! How could I get lost if I know the number?!"

Ussop and Sanji stopped for a moment.

"Oh! I didn't know you were that smart! Sorry to have misjudged you!" Sanji didn't seem so sincere.

"If that's the case, then you're right, Zoro! Just don't strain yourself too much! Ask someone for help if you get lost!" Ussop waved at the swordsman.

Zoro barely managed to control his murderous feelings towards the two and looked up at the tree the Thousand Sunny was docked next to.

"...Number 1, eh?" Smirking a bit, he started to head off.

"How fitting."

Zoro never noticed the bubble revealing the "4" in "41" at the tree he was just looking at.

* * *

"The World Nobles are also called the Tenryuubito."

Hatchan tried to explain why they needed to be careful, but Luffy was paying little attention to him. He saw food and started eating it.

"H-Hello, valued customer!" The salesman was a little put off by Luffy. He was wolfing down the samples at an incredible rate.

"Would you like to- hey! Those aren't for eating!" The man desperately tried to pry Luffy away from the boxes of mochi he had.

Nami pulled him away by the cheek, paying for the mess Luffy had caused once again.

Luffy held one of the boxes in his hand.

"Oh! Thank you, Na-!"

A few minutes later, Luffy found his face against the sticky resin, his body beaten badly, as Nami walked away with the mochi.

Luffy slowly got up and began to follow the group again. Hatchan was busy explaining something to the others.

"Interesting. I never knew that fishmen and mermen were different species."

"Nyu, that's right. Even if we're different species, we can still breed with others like humans, giants, and even merfolk."

"I never knew that such a thing was possible!" Chopper exclaimed as he held a hoof to his chin.

"What about the Davy Back Fight with Splithead? Didn't they have some sort of giant fishman" Luffy interjected, a bored look on his face.

Chopper remembered how he was taken from the Straw Hats and was placed in the Foxy Pirates for a short period of time.

"No! I don't want to remember that! I'd rather die than remember all of that!" Chopper yelled as he shielded his face from view.

Robin picked him up and he buried his muzzle into her shoulder. The group eventually reached a stand where something like bikes were being put into the bubbles. People could ride inside the bubble if they wanted to by using the bike. Luffy had asked excitedly if they could buy one, but Nami and Hatchan had told him no.

Nami had actually listened to Hatchan before she disagreed with Luffy. It was a small step towards forgiving the fishman.

Hatchan explained that the bikes would be useless in other areas as the bubbles couldn't actually leave the Sabody Archipelago. They had the same kind of bubbles at Fishman Island, so that would be the only other place they could use the bike.

* * *

Nami had spied a shopping mall across the way. Looking towards Robin, she saw that the historian was in one of the bubbles with Luffy and Chopper. She guessed that Chopper wanted to ride in one of the bubbles and Robin wished to join the two.

Nami smiled at the scene. Chopper was doing much better since Enies Lobby and so was Robin. She had a feeling that Luffy was the reason, but didn't know the whole story.

Looking back at Hatchan and the others, Nami decided to abstain from shopping for a bit. She needed to spend some time with everyone, and Hatchan was a pretty decent guy.

He was the only one that had never hurt her. Even if he was the one that dragged her away from the village as a child, he didn't force her to do anything when he wasn't ordered to. The octopus fishman had even helped her a little when she was in Arlong's gang, being the only one to make sure she was healthy.

It would be a good experience to get closer to Hatchan. She might be able to fully put the past behind her.

* * *

The group started to head out. They had rented some of the chairs which were named, "Bon Chari", to help move them around. She sat with Brook and the fish people while Robin pushed Chopper in a larger bon chari. Luffy scooted along with them in his own bubble. Luffy wanted to race, but Nami said that they might drop any souvenirs they bought, so Luffy had to remain disappointed.

There seemed to have been a commotion as people were looking pretty shaken, but by the time the Straw Hats arrived, it had cleared up.

The group headed on towards Grove 13, which is where Hatchan said that the person who could coat their ship lived. On the way, they were ambushed more than 4 times, but Luffy and Robin were able to handle anyone that got too close. Hatchan had explained that groves 1-29 were lawless because the Marines didn't like to go to far from their base.

He showed them a map of the Sabody Archipelago. It was shaped like a spiral with the highest grove being in the 70s and the lowest being 1.

"Octopus-san?" Robin looked at the map a little closer.

"Yes?"

"It says here that in Grove 50 is where the coating craftsmen are located. Is this man we're looking for-?"

"Well..." Hatchan started to rub the back of his head, "He's more of a freelancer..."

"Hmm..." Nami rubbed her chin and looked at Hatchan with a look of suspicion.

Hatchan noticed that and started to get nervous.

"Nyu! He's trustworthy though! I knew him from when a was younger! I actually saved him from a shipwreck a long time ago and we became friends!"

"What's his name?"

"Rayleigh! His name is Rayleigh! We're headed towards another friend's house. She might know where he is at the moment."

* * *

They finally arrived at a bar named "Shakky's Rip-off Bar". Nami had told Luffy explicitly not to get anything inside.

The group entered the bar to see a woman holding a bloodied man up.

"Welcome. What could I do for you?" She asked as she hit the man with a fist, making blood fly through the air.

Chopper and Pappug were really scared of the woman. The others were a bit indifferent.

"Hey, Shakky! Long time no see!" Hatchan waved at the woman and moved closer.

The woman named Shakky smiled wide after she realized who it was.

"Oh?! Is that you, Hatchan?!" The woman seemed delighted to see the fishman, "It's been about 10 years! It's nice to see you again!"

"More or less!" Hatchan looked equally as happy as the woman. They seemed to be very good friends.

"Just take a seat and wait a bit. I just have extort some more money from these guys."

"Take your time!" Hatchan took a seat.

The beating that the Straw Hats saw was pretty impressive. Nami thought for a second she could learn a thing or two from her.

* * *

Shakky joined the table that Nami, Chopper, Hatchan, Keimi, and Pappug had sat at. Robin sat at the counter and she watched Luffy raid the fridge along with Brook.

Hatchan told his story to Shakky and that he had stopped being a pirate, which Shakky agreed that was the best thing to do. Most of them ignored how Keimi reacted to how Shakky had asked if she was Hatchan girlfriend. Nami thought it was pretty cute how the mermaid had a crush on the oblivious fishman.

It reminded her how oblivious Luffy was as well.

Shakky was going to say that the Straw Hats could help themselves, but the table's attention was turned towards the two gluttons.

"These beans are very delicious, Shakky-san!" Brook took the seat next to Robin as he ate. Luffy was still just shoving random food items from the fridge into his gaping mouth.

"Stop you two! She's going to rip you off!"

Nami and Chopper both got up and were about to beat the two up when they were interrupted by Shakky's laughter.

"That's alright! Since you're friends of Hatchan, you can help yourselves!"

"Thank you so much!" Nami cried tears of joy. She had heard what the previous men had done to earn the bar owner's wrath. They had just ordered some beers and it had cost them up to 1,000,000 belli each.

"Here, have a treat." Shakky handed Chopper some cotton candy, which he had taken happily.

Robin observed the woman more intently. No one had told her that Chopper liked sweet things.

"Right. That will be 100,000 belli."

Chopper stopped eating and looked up at the woman.

Tears formed from his eyes and he froze in fear.

"I...I...I don't have that much..."

Shakky felt some killing intent and noticed that Robin, the "Devil Child", was glaring at her.

"Sorry, sorry! I was just joking!" Even if Shakky wasn't afraid of fighting the Devil Fruit eater, she didn't mean to hurt one of Hatchan's friends. The bartender pat the reindeer's head.

"Lady? How did you know Chopper liked cotton candy?" Luffy asked with his mouth filled with meat. It seemed that Luffy had noticed how strange it was for the woman to know that as well.

"You're Straw Hat Luffy, correct? I believe that information is power, and everyone's talking about your crew. Though, I didn't know that you had a skeleton in your crew."

Shakky had moved behind the bar. She served Robin some wine, which the historian noted that the bartender knew her tastes as well.

"Ah, I think I should introduce myself." Brook tidied himself up.

"My name is "Dead Bones" Brook. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine. Oh? You have some food stuck there..." Shakky reached up to Brook's skull and took one of the beans that had been stuck to his face.

She ate the bean.

Brook blushed heavily and his jaw was dropped almost to the counter. Robin giggled a bit at the scene.

"Shakky-san! What a nice person!" Shivers went through the skeleton as he shook in his seat.

"What color are your panties?"

"What kind of question are you asking her?!" Nami wanted to bash Brook's head in.

"Well, I think today's color is...-"

"Don't answer!" Keimi and Pappug screamed loudly. They were far to innocent for such a thing!

Shakky removed her panties from underneath her pants. Luffy and Chopper continued to eat, not having any interest in what was going on.

"INCREDIBLE!" Brook's nasal cavity gushed out blood.

"I CAN'T STOP MY NOSE BLEED! EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO NO-GWA!" More blood flooded out.

Nami hit him hard, making cracks form on his forehead.

* * *

After Brook had recovered, he saw that Luffy had sat at the bar next to Robin. The historian was patting Chopper's head, who sat in between the two on the floor.

Shakky served Luffy some tea, which he thanked her for. She leaned on her elbow as she watched the rubberman sip the tea loudly.

"I read about the Enies Lobby incident. Is it true that you and your crew demolished half of its forces?"

Nami and Robin took note that she had mentioned that they had only taken out half of Enies Lobby's fighting force.

Luffy had demolished the entire place, its soldiers included.

"That?" Luffy made a bored face, "I don't want to talk about that. It was a pain in the ass."

"No bragging? What a big shot." Shakky giggled a little.

"You also share the same name as Garp, right?"

"Garp? Who's that?" Luffy was confused.

"She means your grandfather, Luffy." Robin added for him.

"Ugh, you mean that guy?" A disgruntled look appeared on Luffy's face.

"So it's true then? I myself used to be chased by Garp." Shakky filed that for later use. Luffy didn't seem to know that he was related to Monkey D. Garp.

"I feel bad for you. He's pretty mean."

Shakky giggled. Luffy reminded her of a certain someone from the past.

"So, you used to be a pirate too, Shakky-san?" Nami asked as she sat next to Keimi.

"Yeah, but it's been 40 years since I last sailed the seas."

"Granny, how old are you?" Luffy asked.

Chopper wondered if this woman used Kureha's secret method to maintain her youth.

"Nowadays, I enjoy supporting young rookies like yourselves." Shakky smiled at them all.

Nami and Robin understood why she had changed the topic so quickly.

"By the way, Shakky..."

"No need to say it, Hatchan." Shakky held a hand to stop Hatchan from continuing, "I already know all of it. You want to help get Monkey-chan's ship coated."

Robin was impressed. They hadn't known the fishman for that long, and they didn't have contact with many people since then. Her information gathering was impressive.

Looks like she and Nami could learn a few things from the mysterious woman.

She looked at the fishman. "That means you want Rayleigh to coat their ship, right?"

"Unfortunately...he's not here at the moment."

Shakky explained to them that Rayleigh had been gone for half a year. They would have to look for him if they wanted him to coat their ship.

She also told them that Rayleigh liked Sabody Park. An amusement park that Keimi and Pappug had mentioned before.

"An amusement park?!" Luffy, Chopper, Brook, and Keimi cried out. They wanted to go to an amusement park!

"But be careful, Monkey-chan." Shakky looked a little worried, "There are people out there with bounties higher than 100 million belli. In fact, there's one that has a bounty a little higher than yours."

"Ah, don't worry about that! I'll be fine! I'm actually more worried about the coater guy!" Luffy waved off her wariness.

Shakky smiled a little at him.

"I should be telling you that. Rayleigh is about 100 times stronger than you guys."

* * *

The group started to head out towards the amusement park. They didn't let it show, but the others were a bit excited to go as well.

Before leaving, Robin decided to enlighten the woman on one fact, and see if she could learn more about something else.

"Bartender-san? May I have a quick word with you?"

"Sure, Nico-chan. I can spare a moment." The ladies went to the side. The others waited outside for Robin.

"I don't wish to waste any time, so I will ask bluntly. Are there any Facilities in the area?"

Shakky never lost her smile, though her eyes seemed to show some interest.

"There is one in the area, though its within Grove 70. Why do you ask, Nico-chan?"

"I'm just a little worried for the safety of my crew." Robin looked out a window to see that the others were busy chatting while waiting.

"Don't worry. I doubt they know you're here at the moment. Just don't catch the Government's eye and you'll be fine."

"Thank you, Bartender-san. Oh, I also want to share a little information with you, if you'll keep it a secret."

"No worries. I won't give away any secrets of Hatchan's friends."

Robin smiled appreciatively towards the other woman.

"Thank you. Enies Lobby didn't lose half of its forces, they lost all of them."

Shakky's eyes glowed a bit. Robin could see that information meant a lot to her.

"Really? That's pretty interesting. Did all the Straw Hats fight?"

"Not really." Robin's gaze returned to the group to rest on Luffy.

"Luffy did most of it. As soon as he arrived, he wrecked havoc across Enies Lobby."

Shakky looked out at Luffy too. He was dancing with Chopper while Brook played music for everyone to enjoy.

"Monkey-chan really is something, isn't he?"

Shakky turned back towards Robin.

"And to think, he did all that for you."

Robin giggled.

"He would have done it for any of his family. Don't put me in the spotlight like that."

Shakky closed her eyes and shrugged.

"He really is an interesting guy. I'll be rooting for you all. Good luck out there."

"Thank you. See you, Bartender-san."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**Yeah, yeah, I know. It's pretty short for 3 or 4 days since my last update. I'll be going on a trip soon, so that's a definite 3 or 4 day hiatus, but I think I'll write a little. I won't have any information though, so don't expect a sudden chapter on Wed or Thur.  
**


	23. Sabody Arc (Part 2)

**Hello everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all!**

**Thanks to some for their hoping of me having a good trip. I bet some of you weren't expecting me to get this out!**

**I think I'll clean this up a bit after I get back. I kinda rushed this all in one night, so hope I didn't screw up royally!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"Wah! The Ferris Wheel! I've never seen it up this close before!"

Keimi was excited! She was finally able to go to Sabody Park! The bright lights and happy smiles made the group feel a little bit more excited.

"Alright, everyone! Let's all have some fun!" Luffy had already started running in the amusement park. He eyed the concession stands hungrily.

"You're not serious at all, are you?!"

Pappug was a bit upset that the two were so carefree about all of this. Hatchan seemed a bit worried too.

This is what Nami and Robin noticed as they watched everyone enter the amusement park.

In fact, the starfish, mermaid, and the fishman were a bit wary of everything. They had even hid the features that showed they weren't human. Keimi wore a long skirt with shoes on her fins and Hatchan wore a large coat that he kept his extra arms under. Robin had asked him if he had been hurt on the forehead, but he said not to worry about it.

Robin pieced together this information and realized that the Sabody Archipelago was more than it seemed.

"Robin!" The historian looked at Nami, "You make sure that Luffy and Chopper don't go missing, alright? I'll watch the others."

Brook would be easy to watch. Even if he was just as ridiculous as the other two Straw Hats, he had enough sense not to get lost.

Luffy was hopeless if he ran off. Robin had to hold his hand to make sure he wouldn't run away.

Chopper would follow them all around. He didn't like being alone.

The others were a lot easier to keep track of. It seemed they didn't want to be separated from the Straw Hats.

* * *

The first thing they all rode on was the rollercoaster.

"Oh? This is a nice view!" "So nice!" "Such a peaceful ride..."

And then they found out first hand it wasn't so slow and peaceful.

Brook was a little traumatized from the event. He watched as the others all went on the carousel.

After seeing how much fun they all had, he went with them on the next ride.

"Yohohoho...I sure do enjoy these slow rides!"

The ride he had chosen to accompany them on was a drop tower.

"Ah...we've reached the top. Look at that view! What happens n-AUGH!"

Brook had convinced everyone that the next ride should not go off the ground, so they allowed him to pick the next attraction.

He chose the teacups. He loved tea, so teacups.

Nami watched as Robin brought Chopper into the cup they had chosen. He was going to join Luffy and Brook, but the historian had stolen the reindeer away.

"That's strange." Nami commented as Robin formed hands to turn the cup fast, but not too fast.

"What is it, Nami-chan?"

"I thought you would have been in the same cup as Luffy."

Robin raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think that?"

"Nothing!" Nami tried to hide her embarrassment, but failed to hide from Robin.

The other woman giggled. Robin flashed her a smile.

"To be in the same cup as Luffy would be worse than the tower drop and rollercoaster."

A few moments later, Luffy and Brook were kneeling on the ground after they had broken the teacups.

Brook decided that Luffy was the reason why he was getting "too much excitement".

* * *

They all rested on the ferris wheel after all the excitement. Keimi and the other sea dwellers were ecstatic to be so high in the air.

"Everyone...thank you so much!" Keimi told the Straw Hats.

Luffy noticed some tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Shishishishi! Are you so happy that you're crying?" Luffy grinned at the mermaid.

She nodded at him, "This has been my dream since I was young! The only reason we're able to be here is because you're all so strong!" She wiped the tears away and smiled at everyone.

Hatchan closed his eyes, reminiscing his childhood, "That's true! The merfolk and fishfolk children dream of coming here to Sabody Park!"

Brook shook in his seat, causing Robin to giggle at him. They were so high!

Chopper and Pappug seemed to enjoy themselves as they looked at the ground through the bubble they were in.

They all got on the gondola ride next, seeing as Keimi had insisted they ride in next. It was in the shape of a pirate ship, so Luffy was excited about it too. Brook had gotten used to the other rides (The worst being the teacups. Irony was so cruel).

The only ride Brook and Chopper had not gone into was the Horror House. Robin had actually laughed at how amusing they were before she took Luffy's hand and dragged the surprised man into the attraction.

After they had all settled down, Luffy wanted to buy some balloons. Robin had stayed with the rubberman, making sure he knew how to get back.

Nobody noticed the men hiding in the background eying Keimi hungrily.

* * *

Zoro was calmly walking down the street with the bottle of booze he had purchased. It was really good! Made with some kind of raisin or something.

A bit sticky though. Oh well. Booze was booze.

Taking a long, and delightful swig of the precious alcohol he had, he finally noticed many people standing around him.

In his path stood some weird freak that had snot hanging from his nose. He seemed shocked. The weird kid wore a bubble over his head. He held a golden gun in his hand.

Zoro entertained the thought that he was speaking to someone that was a bit special. Either way, they shouldn't have been in his way.

"What? You lost or something?" Zoro didn't like it when people got in his way. Especially if they needed to ask for directions.

He tried to look as intimidating as possible. There was no way in hell he was going to be forced to help someone find their way.

The freak in front of him reacted out of fear and instinct in a very irritating way. He fired his gun at Zoro.

Zoro dodged the bullet and prepared to draw his swords.

And it would be a really cold day in hell before he allowed anyone to just shoot him.

* * *

Saint Charloss had just been going about his merry day, showing the lowly commoners his wonderful presence, marrying all the women who seemed decent enough for his magnificent self, when all of a sudden, this strange ogre came to haunt him!

He had accidentally fired his weapon to kill the beast, but it looked like it had dodged his attack.

His world seemed to move slower as the beast raised its head to look at him.

It had the face of a demon! Of a monster! It slowly opened its mouth as if to let loose a bloody scream!

* * *

Zoro was about to cut the rude asshole, but a little girl crashed into his face, sending him flying away from the man.

He was about to protest when he saw the one sight he didn't want to see.

The little girl's cheeks began to swell in the one manner that he knew well.

She vomited something on his face and slammed his head into the ground.

"Stay still and be quiet." She ordered him with a bit older voice than he had expected.

He didn't want anything like this to happen again, so he obeyed.

Hopefully, she wouldn't vomit on his beer. He thought he had some left in the bottle.

* * *

Bonney stayed as still as she could as she heard the noble leave.

This idiot had almost gotten them all in deep shit! Who the hell attacks a World Noble?!

She glared at the man as he started to pick himself up.

They had all heard the Straw Hats were crazy, but to this degree?! It was stupid!

* * *

Sanji, Ussop, and Franky sat around in a circle. They slowly sipped on colas while they started wondering what the others were up to and discussing various things.

"My favorite kind of island? Why, that would be a Robin-chan on a Nami-swan island!"

"You really are messed up, Curly Cook." Franky smiled at Sanji's obsessiveness.

The Den Den Mushi started to ring, which Sanji picked up immediately.

"Nami-swan?! Robin-chan?! "

"Sanji! It's Ch-"

Sanji almost slammed the receiver down, scaring Ussop and Franky. He smirked at them.

"What? Did you think I would actually do that?" He put his ear to the receiver.

"What is it, Chopper? Is everything alright?"

"No! They took Keimi!"

Chopper quickly explained that some people had taken Keimi when they had least expected it. The had flown away with flying fish, so they were gone within seconds.

"Just wait right there, Chopper." Sanji hung up and took a paper from his pockets.

"What are we going to do?!" Ussop panicked and Franky looked at Sanji.

"I'm going to make a call." Sanji grimaced.

"To the Rosy Life Pirates. They might know who took Keimi-chan."

* * *

Chopper waited where Sanji had told him to wait. Brook and Nami were with him.

Luffy, Robin, and the others had gone looking for the mermaid. Brook had convinced Chopper to relax, but Nami knew that Keimi wasn't in a position to relax like them.

Being a slave...was something Nami had experienced. She never wanted Keimi to go through that.

Before the historian had left, she shared what she knew about fishmen and mermaids.

Fishmen and mermen used to be classified as fish up around 200 years ago. They had been hunted down due to the discrimination against them. Mermaid's in particular were prized slaves.

Nami could only hope that the others would find her in time.

* * *

"I-I-I shouldn't have let Keimi come here!"

Luffy and Robin watched Pappug cry with heavy hearts. The little starfish was distraught from Keimi getting kidnapped. He had blamed himself for what had happened.

Hatchan looked close to tears too.

"I'm sorry...Straw Hat. I wanted to help you all, but instead I-"

"Don't say you're sorry!"

Hatchan jumped a little when Luffy yelled at him. Robin had a small smile on her face as she continued to look for Keimi.

"You did nothing wrong! You three are already our friends, so stop crying! We'll save Keimi!"

Watching the rubberman tell them that they were his friends put a good feeling inside the sea dweller's chests.

The way he had said it made them feel a little more hopeful. They would save Keimi! No matter what they had to do!

* * *

The group was found by some men flying on flying fish. They said that they were members of the Rosy Life Pirates and that they would help them find Keimi.

Robin's mantra caught something as they flew through the air! It felt like Keimi!

"Quickly everyone! I think she's that way!" Hands formed on the mangrove trees, pointing the drivers in the right direction.

Listening in on the radio, they heard everyone else head towards the auction house that held Keimi.

* * *

The building in front of the group was a huge spherical shaped building. It had a huge sign with the word, "Human" labeled on it.

Everyone had arrived at the same time. Luffy was going to charge the building and destroy it, but Hatchan had moved into his way.

"What gives, Hachi?! I'll go in and save Keimi right away!" He didn't want to hurt the fishman, so he didn't fight back too much.

"Nyu! No! You can't! There's a Tenryuubito in there!"

The man guarding the back entrance had told them in an excited way that they could do nothing but watch as their mermaid friend was sold off like a pet.

His words didn't protect him from Luffy's fist.

* * *

The group looked very worried, but Nami started to walk into the building.

"There's nothing we can do!" She announced to the surprised Straw Hats, "We're just going to have to go by their rules! We'll buy Keimi back!"

"Yeah!" Chopper punched the air, "Money is no object when it comes to friends!" The reindeer smiled at Nami who returned one of her own.

* * *

Everyone but Luffy and Robin entered the building. Robin looked at him in curiosity, but she had a feeling she knew why he had hesitated.

"Luffy? Are you alright?" She went to him and put her hand on his shoulder, activating her mantra as she did so.

Robin felt what he had felt. This place was a cesspool of depravity, of deep and endless sorrow. She could feel that many people had been broken within the building.

Luffy clenched his knuckles tightly, causing them to crack. She put a hand on his fist.

"It's alright, Luffy. We'll get her back."

"Robin?" He looked at her with a determined expression.

"We're all going to stay together. We'll save Keimi from this." Robin understood what he meant.

"We won't let her suffer, Luffy. She's our friend, after all." She smiled at him.

He gave her a small grin, diminished due to the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness that surrounded the horrible place of sin.

* * *

They entered the building. It was pretty dark, but the stage in front was lit up brightly. The seats were arranged in a theatrical way, with rows of people sitting in chairs and stairs led down to the stage.

It seemed that they hadn't sold Keimi off yet, which was very good.

"Alright, we have around 450 million belli! More than enough to buy Keimi!" The group whispered to themselves. The treasure left over from Skypiea and from Thriller Bark was more than enough!

They had to watch a few of the slaves be sold off. Some of them cried and begged to be saved. Most were pirates, so Luffy didn't feel too bad.

It was when they sold innocents that had almost set him off. They sold women and children to many of the disgusting people in the auction house.

The looks on the faces of the owners made Luffy sick. It reminded him too much of the Facility.

Robin noticed this and held his hand tightly, trying to give him strength to go through all of this. They could only get Keimi.

* * *

The moment was finally here. They wheeled out a large object covered with a sheet.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The next item that I'm about to present to you will blow your minds away!"

The auctioneer swung his arm in an exaggerated presenting motion.

"Our super special item!"

Lights shined from behind the sheet, revealing the silhouette of a mermaid behind the sheet.

"Please! Take a look at this silhouette! The figure that many men have lusted for!"

"I won't say anymore!" He gripped the sheet with his hands, "See with your own eyes!"

He pulled the sheet away, the tank of water became exposed to the audience's eyes.

"Keimi, the mermaid!"

Keimi stared at the crowd through her tank. Her eyes looked downcast and she had marks on her cheeks, suggesting she had been hurt.

Hatchan almost rushed over to her as soon as she was unveiled. He couldn't stand to just sit by and watch Keimi wear that expression!

Nobody should look like that! The dead expression she wore should be forbidden!

* * *

"Alright! We've got 450 million to spend! Let's get Kei-

"Oh my god! A mermaid! I'll pay 500 million belli!" A nasally voice cried out from the middle of the row of people.

The Straw Hats froze in shock.

The portly man that had cried out wore a strange suit with a bubble covering his head. Most of them knew exactly who it was.

A Tenryuubito had outbid them. They couldn't save Keimi with money.

"500 million?" The Tenryuubito was with more of his kind. The older man caught the younger one's attention.

"You're wasting money again, Charloss. Don't you have piranhas in your aquarium?" The older man chastised his son.

"I think it would be interesting to see her run from them!" The nasally man named Charloss exclaimed.

Keimi beat against the glass of her tank. The small thuds suggested that it was either thicker glass or a different material. She looked like she was screaming, but no words could be heard.

"And if I ever get hungry, I can always just get her fried! I think that's a bargain for some measly chump change!"

The Tenryuubito had called 500 million belli "chump change". Even if they had more money, they wouldn't have been able to buy Keimi.

* * *

Luffy let go of Robin's hand and stomped forward. He was going to save Keimi.

Right now!

"No! You mustn't do that!" Hatchi grabbed onto Luffy, but could not stop him this time.

Luffy wasn't going to wait anymore. He was going to save his friend from these monsters!

He ignored many of the people crying out as they saw the rubberman march down the stairs.

Hatchan pulled his other arms out from the jacket he wore. Luffy needed to stop! He didn't know what he was doing!

The people began to scream and Hatchan realized what he had done.

"Oh my god! It's a fishman! Somebody get rid of it!"

"It's a monster! Be careful everyone!"

"Disgusting! Look at the color of its skin!"

Hatchan backed away in fear! He didn't want this to happen!

* * *

The other Straw Hats looked on at the scene in varying emotions.

Robin had expected this much. She had been witness to human's fear and disgust before, so it was nothing new to her.

Nami held her mouth in shock as she watched many of the people yell obscenities at Hatchan. No wonder he had hid himself! This was awful!

Brook felt a pang of hurt as he realized that he might have to face this as well. Being a skeleton made you different from others. The pain Hatchan felt might be one that he would face later on.

Chopper was disgusted at how everyone was reacting to Hatchan! Even if he wasn't human, it didn't mean the fishman didn't have feelings!

The others felt anger well up inside them. They wanted these people to stop, and they were going to show them what it meant to-

A gunshot rang through the air.

Luffy stopped when he felt something wrong. It felt like someone had shot him, but he didn't feel pain in his back.

He felt it in his heart.

Luffy turned to see Hatchan fall on the stairs, hitting his head on the edge of one of them. Blood spilled out of the wound that formed when the bullet went through his body and he tried to stop the bleeding.

"I did it!" The Tenryuubito shouted out as he danced above the fishman.

"I stopped the monster! I'm a hero!"

Luffy felt rage course through his body as he watched Hatchan gasp for air. The fishman's body shivered in pain and he tried to be as still as possible.

"This means I get him for free! A fishman for free! How wonderful!"

The steps cracked under Luffy's feet as he glared hatefully at the oblivious man.

He would learn what if felt like when one of his friends was hurt!

The man would know pain!

Charloss had danced a little up the stairs. People began to flee the area after seeing the monster, but they had stopped. The place still had many people, but not as many.

"I wonder what I should do with him? Takoyaki sounds good!"

Luffy grit his teeth and clenched his fist. Cracking noises started to sound out through the area.

"I'm so glad he stopped that monster! Who knows what he would have done?"

The audience began to talk amongst themselves.

"Who cares? He has the brain of a fish!"

He would teach all of these people what pain was! They would all feel Hatchan's pa-!

A hand stopped his ascent and he turned his menacing stare towards it.

Hatchan had feebly grabbed onto his arm. The fishman was still panting, but he had a resolute expression.

"Wai...wait...ha...Luffy! You...you..can't..do...it! I...beg..of..you...!" The fishman had to stop as blood started to spill from his mouth.

"Don't..do..it...! It...it..was..my..fault...!"

With his eyes widening, Luffy looked at Hatchan with outrage.

He thought it was his fault?

"I..just...I..just...wanted..to..to..make..it..up. .to...Nami! For..all...the.." He coughed up some blood, "...all..the terrible..things that..happened...to her!"

Nami uttered a quiet cry. The man was trying to atone?! Didn't he realize that she had forgiven him already?!

"I'm...I'm just..I'm just so...sorry!" Hatchan started to sob, "For..my...useless...existence...!"

Luffy hurt inside looking the fishman. His friend felt this way too?! Why did he think that he was useless?!

"Please...Luffy! Take..Keimi...now and...run! I'll...let..myself..be...taken...instead!" The fishman wheezed as he held onto Luffy's arm.

Luffy couldn't take much more! He wanted to sacrifice himself too?!

"Please...Luf-!"

"Shut up already!" Charloss shot another bullet towards the two, but it imbedded itself in the stairs.

"Trash like you shouldn't be talking! I've decided that you'll be excellent takoyaki!"

* * *

Luffy turned slowly towards the Tenryuubito. He didn't notice how many in the auction house had taken note of his bloodlust. Some stronger looking people looked a little shocked. They must have sensed his intentions.

This man...

Luffy walked up the stairs, he dodged more of the bullets the disgusting fat pig fired at him.

This man was beyond forgiveness...!

He clenched his right hand hard, but opened it up. His fingers had turned into claws.

His white skin was unnoticeable in the darkened room. He got closer to the Tenryuubito, one step at a time.

As he reached the fat pudgy pig, he let himself be consumed by the rage!

His life would never be enough! But it would do...!

* * *

The Straw Hats watched as Luffy roared, his voice lacking the warped quality and his arm sent the Tenryuubito into the wall. His relatives cried out in shock.

"N-No way..." Ussop couldn't believe his eyes.

"It's not over." Robin commented as she looked at Luffy.

It was very slight, but she could see tears in his darkened eye sockets.

She knew that there was more.

"Pudgy's screwed." Zoro said as he also watched Luffy.

The rubberman had sent his arm with the fat man he almost cut earlier.

Luffy was too obvious. Zoro knew exactly what he was going to do next.

The swordsman only hoped that the man would feel pain before his pathetic, little existence was ended.

* * *

Charloss could only spit out a little blood as he was sent into the wall. The monster had sent him skidding against the ground and had made a trench in the stands. He himself laid in a crater in the wall.

He felt something sharp cutting into his head. Opening his eyes, he saw the most frightening thing he had ever seen!

A white monster was grabbing his head. Its arm was stretched all the way to where he was. Its teeth were as big as knives as it sneered at him. A deep growling came from its throat.

The growling started to turn into a loud warped roar! He felt himself moving towards the creature!

His life couldn't end here! He was Saint Charloss! He was a Tenryuubito! A World Noble! His blood was sacred!

Before his head turned into a wet mist, the remnants becoming a crimson paste on the stairs, he realized how weak he truly was compared to the monster.

* * *

Luffy pulled the pig towards him and slammed his left black fist into its head.

The man seemed to freeze in midair, as Luffy let momentum keep the men suspended.

Roaring as loudly as he could, he pushed hard.

Time moved very slowly. He watched as the man's head slowly approached the stairs.

He felt bone crunch underneath his knuckles. The best part of all this?

Luffy was sure the filth felt every single second of this. He wanted him to suffer for what he had done!

With his enhanced perception, he watched as a crater slowly formed into the ground, the man's head exploding in red.

Luffy didn't feel this was enough! He needed to feel more pain! More and more!

* * *

Luffy started roaring some more. He was disappointed that justice had not been properly served.

"Hey now, you really should learn how to control that a bit more!"

Most of the people in the area had been frozen in fear from the overpowering aura emanating from Luffy, but they had been knocked unconscious by another, more focused, aura.

A man appeared next to Luffy, Keimi in his arms. He looked pretty old, having long white hair and a long white beard. He wore glasses and had a scar on his right eye going from his forehead to his lips.

"I've been wanting to meet you, Monkey D. Luffy!" The man exclaimed as he handed Keimi to Ussop, who held her up.

Luffy noticed she still had a collar attached to her, and he wanted to get rid of it. He rushed over and tore it off with his hands.

A split second before it made a beeping noise, he foresaw that it would explode.

He threw it over the crowd, and the flames consumed the area.

Garbage needed to be cleaned, and today was flammable day.

A few strange looking guys sat nearby their group. A man with a funny hat and a man with wild red hair.

Luffy didn't pay too much attention to them. He went over to Hatchan and picked him up.

Franky came out of the back with some keys in his hands, but noticed Keimi no longer had a collar. He threw it over to the slaves who thanked him with tears in their eyes.

"Looks like you all have started some trouble." The old man grinned at the Straw Hats, noticing that Luffy had just torn the metal collar off.

He had reacted too quickly. It was interesting! With his earlier performance, he was sure the kid had haki!

"Rayleigh!" Hatchan cried out as he got up from his position.

"Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh! What's a legend like you doing here...?"

"To think that we would run into a man like this here..."

The two other strong looking men were talking amongst their own crew.

"Dark King? I'm just a ship coater now! A old man living a peaceful life." Rayleigh told the two.

Robin instantly recognized the man. To think, this was the Rayleigh they were looking for!

* * *

"Straw Hat Luffy! Come out and surrender the World Nobles! An Admiral is already on his way here, so you better give up!" The Marines yelled from outside the building.

The other strong people looked a bit disgruntled at being lumped with Straw Hat Luffy, but they didn't care too much. They needed to get out quickly.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you all then!" Rayleigh said as he picked Hatchan up, "I don't want them to know that I'm here, so I'm going to go on ahead!"

Rayleigh turned to Luffy and grinned at him.

"We have much to talk about! You know where Grove 13 is?"

"You mean the bar with that lady? Yeah, we know of it!"

"Very well! I'll meet you all there!" Rayleigh seemed to disappear.

Luffy and Robin tried to sense him, but he was already gone.

"Sorry everyone," Luffy looked at his crew, "I just had to do that though. Now we got an Admiral after us."

"I'm just a bit disappointed. I wanted to cut him." Zoro smirked at his captain.

He felt like they all wanted to hurt the World Noble. He deserved worse.

The other two World Nobles didn't look so good. Luffy had thrown the explosive collar at them and it had reached them before detonation.

Maybe they would get three in one day?

* * *

Luffy went outside with the two other strong men. They were pirate captains.

Robin told him the one with the big hat was Trafalgar Law. The one with wild red hair was Eustass Kid.

The Marines had surrounded the entire building. They had set up various weapons such as cannons and mortars to stop the pirates.

Sadly, they were flies in comparison with the three captains.

Kid had demolished the Marines with their own weapons. Electricity danced off his body as he laughed at their weakness. Metal bent to his will and he made a giant metal arm that crushed the hapless soldiers.

Law used his own power that made a "room". He then cut up his enemies and manipulated their bodies. No one had died from his attack, but it had unnerved Luffy a little.

"Don't do that."

Law turned towards Luffy. The rubberman's skin was already white and he looked like he would flip out at any moment.

"They call me the "Surgeon of Death" for a reason, Straw Hat. You expect me to let them capture me?"

Luffy frowned and turned away.

The man was right. Who was he to tell others how to fight?

Luffy roared at his enemies, causing most of them to just fall to the ground unconscious.

The two other captains looked a little shocked that he had defeated most of the Marines just by screaming at them.

The rubberman then swung his leg at the ones still standing.

Broken bodies flew through the air as they were swept away.

Luffy had barely done anything, yet most of the Marines were already finished.

"You're just as crazy as the papers say, Straw Hat!" Kid grinned maliciously at the Luffy.

Law didn't say anything. Thoughts were forming about this, Straw Hat Luffy.

He was very powerful. Maybe he could-?

"Woah! I can't believe my eyes! Though, I don't have any eyes-!"

"This is not the time for that!"

Luffy turned to see his and the other pirate crews emerging from the auction house. They marveled at the destruction they had wrought.

"Captain Kid! It's time to get out of here!"

"Yeah, I know." He turned to the other two captains.

"It was a pleasure to meet you two! Next time though, I won't be so merciful!"

"Huh?" Luffy didn't seem to notice the threat.

"Well, I'm going to find One Piece, so it's only natural we would meet again!"

Law and Kid focused on the Straw Hat captain.

A Marine attempted to attack Kid, but he was stopped by one of his crew. He wore a blue mask and used hooks to fight.

"Hey, Kid! Why are you-?"

"You know, Killer," Kid addressed his crew mate.

"Traveling on the path we took, saying that sort of thing would just get you laughed at, though I killed anyone who laughed at me."

Law smiled at Luffy. He was a really interesting guy.

"Now, you wouldn't be able to continue if you didn't have that thought in mind! I'll see you in the "New World", Straw Hat!" Kid gave the two captains another grin before departing.

Law left silently, not feeling the need to say anything else.

* * *

Luffy and his crew made their way back to Grove 13. Luffy had really cleared the Marines out, but some scattered groups attempted an attack.

They didn't stand a chance against the full fighting force of the Straw Hats.

"Later! Don't hesitate to call us when you need help! Until Young Master and his crew have safely arrived at Fishman Island, we will lend our hands!" Duval attempted to wink at them.

"Let's go, Rosy Life Riders!" "Yes, Handsome!"

The Straw Hats waved at the Rosy Life Riders. They had really helped them out to find Keimi.

Who knew those guys would actually be pretty nice? Looks like they had really changed since they met the Straw Hats.

Keimi was appreciative towards her former kidnapper. Duval had gone to the slave trader that had caught her and beat him up. He even got her backpack back from him.

* * *

The group arrived back at Shakky's Rip-off Bar. Rayleigh was already waiting for them all with Hatchan.

They were sharing stories about their time away from each other. The two were laughing and Hatchan was patched up.

The Straw Hats sat down and took a breather for a bit. They had done a lot of running today. The only ones not out of breath were the 4 monsters.

Luffy sat down at the bar with Rayleigh. The man had wanted to talk to him after all.

"Oh! Let me introduce myself! I'm Silvers Rayleigh! I was the Vice-Captain of the Oro Jackson."

Luffy's eyes widened as the information sank in.

"Gol D. Roger was my captain! Nice to meet you all!" The man smiled widely. He had introduced himself in that way to garner reactions from the others.

He wasn't disappointed. The Straw Hats started to get excited.

All but three. The "Devil Child", Nico Robin, seemed to already know who he was.

"Ah, Gol D. Roger? I recall a rookie going by that name a long time ago." Brook took a sip of his tea.

Zoro was unfazed. He didn't care who the guy was. Mihawk was his goal, not this man.

"W-Wait! Your captain lost his head...so how did you keep yours?!" Ussop was dying to know the answer! How was it that this man managed to hide from the Marines for so long?!

"We were never caught..." Rayleigh kept his smile up, but turned to look away, "...Roger gave himself up."

Most of the group was stunned! All but Shakky had not known that!

Rayleigh explained that Roger had been suffering from a sickness 4 years prior to his death. They had all seen a limit to their adventures together, so Roger wanted to spend his last years with his crew.

"There was a famous doctor back then that managed to ease Roger's pain. His name was Crocus of the Twin Capes. After 3 years though, he said that he could do no more for Roger."

"Crocus!" Brook was startled, "Crocus was really part of the Pirate King's crew?!"

"Yeah! He said he had been looking for someone out at sea!" Rayleigh laughed a little.

"Wow, Brook! He really wanted to see you again!" Luffy grinned at the skeleton who shook in happiness.

"To think...he would go that far..."

"He was only with us for 3 years, but I consider him family! I'd really like to meet him again one day!"

"Well, the story starts here...the day the "Pirate King" was born! It's not as if he was always the Pirate King, it was just a title given to him by the Marines, but he enjoyed it! He always liked to do things flashily!"

Zoro and Nami both thought of another man who liked to do things flashily.

"Anyways...the Roger Pirates disbanded at the command of its captain and he went back to Loguetown to be executed. I heard that many famous pirates of today had gone to visit his execution."

Rayleigh's smile wavered a bit as his eyes took on a distant look.

"That day...I didn't go. His last words to me were, "I won't die, Partner!"..."

He laughed a little.

"The Marines thought that the execution would be a warning to pirates! Instead, with just a few words, Roger turned it into the opening of the "Great Pirate Era"!"

"I never laughed more in my life on that day!"

"I also never cried as much in my life as well!"

"And I never drank more than I ever did on that day!" Rayleigh laughed!

"He was our captain! And he was a magnificent man!"

Nami and Ussop were moved by the man's story.

"Somehow...I think I just heard something incredible...it's much different hearing it straight from someone who had gone through it all..."

"This Pirate Era was practically created by Roger!"

Rayleigh snickered a little before taking a swig from a bottle Shakky had given him.

"That...I cannot answer. The ones who form this Era are the living!"

"Roger did leave some people back there in that plaza. The man you know well, Shanks, was one of those people."

"Hm?! Shanks was part of the Pirate King's crew?!"

"And since some of you are from East Blue, I assume you know Buggy as we-"

"Buggy..." Zoro and Nami didn't look happy as they hissed the name out like it was poison.

"Oh? Seems like there's some bad blood between you!"

Rayleigh turned back to Luffy, who sat still in shock.

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you! I actually met him 10 years ago on this island! He was missing his straw hat and his left arm!" He noticed that Luffy flinched a little, "What a surprise that was!"

"When I asked him what had happened, he told me all about you, Luffy!"

Luffy smiled a bit when he heard that. He took his hat off and looked at it fondly.

"Now, I can't just go telling you something Shanks didn't tell you, but at any rate, congratulations on getting this far!" Rayleigh thumped Luffy on the back, "I'm sure he's waiting out there in the "New World"!"

"Now, onto business! You guys came here to get your ship coated, yes?"

"Nyu! I heard that the process is quite expensive..." Hatchan looked a little down, but he was determined to use all of his money to pay for the coating process! He had to make it up to the Straw Hats!

"No, don't worry about that! I'm not going to charge friends of Hatchan!" Rayleigh waved at the fishman, indicated not to worry about anything.

"Really? Thank you, Rayleigh!" Hatchan was starting to owe a lot of people, but he didn't mind.

"Woo! We somehow got a free coating!" Nami and Ussop rejoiced!

"He's really a kind guy, isn't he?" Sanji already liked this old guy.

"Rayleigh-san, I have a question for you!"

Everyone was a bit surprised to see Robin stand up. It was unlike the historian to show much emotion.

"What is...the Will of D.?"

Rayleigh got up from his chair slowly, his interest apparent in what the "Devil Child" was going to say.

"Back on Skypiea, I found a Poneglyph that was signed in the old script...and it bore your captain's name. How was he able to use that writing?"

"Is it also possible," Robin continued, "that you know of what happened long ago during the "Void Century"?!"

A moment of silence passed by everyone.

"...Sure, I know...I know everything that happened during the "Void Century"."

Robin flinched as she realized that his man held all the answers to her questions! He knew everything she had wanted to know!

"But...my girl," He looked her in the eyes, "don't be so hasty. We...and the people of Ohara...might have been a bit too hasty."

He crossed his arms and his smile disappeared.

"Even if I were to tell you now, you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it."

Rayleigh sighed, his mood becoming the polar opposite of what it was just a minute ago. Shakky seemed to copy his mood as well, losing her smile and staring and Robin intently.

"...Take a good long look at the World. Maybe you'll come to a different conclusion than the one we came to."

He turned away from Robin and smiled a little.

Maybe she would pass his test?

"But...if you want me to tell you here and now, I will."

Robin looked at him with sweat pouring from her brow, but she smiled and closed her eyes.

"No. There is no need. Thank you, Rayleigh-san, but I will continue my journey."

The man was glad. She had passed his test with flying colors.

"Don't think that Roger could read any of the writing on the Poneglyph." He started before Robin could sit back down.

"He just had the power to hear the "voices of all things". That's all there is to it..."

Voices of all things?

"Excuse me, Rayleigh-san-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Ussop stood up from his seat and looked at Robin incredulously, "Are you sure about that, Robin?! You're just letting an incredible opportunity slip by!"

He looked back at Rayleigh, who had raised his eyebrows at the young man.

"I got a question for you, Old Man! The legendary treasure, "One Piece"!"

Only Robin noticed Luffy raise his head up, a look of rage on his face as he manifested completely.

"That legendary treasure! Is it really on the final islan-!"

* * *

"USSOO-!" Luffy foot crashed against the counter, startling Brook.

Ussop fell to his ground in fear as that familiar terrifying aura filled the air.

"-OOOPP!" Luffy roared at his sharpshooter, who was close to passing out.

Many of the Straw Hats jumped when they heard the loud breaking sound of Luffy's foot meeting counter top.

"We're NOT asking him where the treasure is! In fact, I don't even want to know if it exists or not!"

This was the angriest they had ever seen Luffy! He looked close to ripping Ussop's head off!

"There's HUNDREDS! No! THOUSANDS of people out there risking their LIVES to search for it!"

He held his hand up and clenched it tightly, surprising everyone as it turned black. The air around his fist seemed to explode a bit.

"If you dare ask him about it...!"

Luffy grit his teeth.

"...I'll just stop being a pirate, RIGHT NOW!" He hissed the words out, shocking everyone in the room.

"I DON'T WANT A BORING ADVENTURE LIKE THAT!"

Continuing to glare at Ussop, Luffy slowly turned back to normal.

"I..I..I..I...I'm so..sorry! I knew that! Really!" Ussop regained some of his courage when he saw Luffy calm down a bit.

"Hey! Old Guy! Don't go telling us about "One Piece"! I won't listen at all to any of it! I've got the "I'll-die-if-I-find-out-about-One-Piece" disease!"

Shakky laughed in the background.

"Are you sure?" Rayleigh had been impressed by Luffy's attitude.

"The enemies will just get tougher! The sea will get harsher! You'll experience things beyond your wildest imagination! Are you sure you can conquer this ultimate ocean?"

Luffy stared at him blankly for a moment.

"Conquer?" Luffy grinned at the old man, "I don't want to conquer anything! I just think the guy with the most freedom is the Pirate King!"

Rayleigh saw what Shanks had meant when he said Luffy resembled Roger.

"Why, Monkey-chan, I'm becoming a big fan of yours." Shakky said from the bar. She didn't mind him breaking it after witnessing this.

"Is that so...?" Rayleigh whispered to himself.

It seems, the future still held some more interesting things!

* * *

Rayleigh told the group that he would need 3 days to coat their ship. All they had to do was to stay alive and not get captured by the Marines.

The Straw Hats decided to split up for the time being. That way, it would be much harder for the Marines to track them down.

Shakky had given them all vivre cards to find their way back to Rayleigh. He had pulled Luffy and Robin aside for a moment after seeing some things from earlier.

It was hard to not notice the black arms Robin had used to incapacitate several Marines earlier. Luffy was an entirely different story.

"You two showed me something interesting earlier! I didn't know that you knew haki!"

Robin immediately had another question for Rayleigh.

"Rayleigh-san? I have a quick question about haki."

The old man looked at her with interest. It seems they already knew a little about it.

"Sure, I'll answer your question. I just wanted to tell Luffy something before he went out into the world, destroying people's minds as he traveled."

"Have you ever heard of an ability called mantra?"

Rayleigh looked a little surprised.

"That's what the Skypian's called it, wasn't it? Its real name is Kenbunshoku."

Robin repeated the name and thanked Rayleigh.

She finally knew the name of this ability. Kenbunshoku...

Out of all her skills, that was her best one in her opinion.

"Alright, Luffy, I need you to understand something..." Rayleigh smiled kindly at Luffy who returned with one of his grins.

Rayleigh promptly smashed his fist into Luffy's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"Don't use Haoshoku so carelessly, Luffy!" The old man yelled at Luffy.

"Haoshoku? What's that?"

Robin put her hand on his shoulder. He looked over at her.

"It's when you knock people out when you get angry, Luffy."

"Oh, that? Alright! I'll try not to!"

Rayleigh wasn't sure if the rubberman could keep his word, but it was strange...

"You...can't control it, can you?"

"Nah! I just get really angry sometimes and it does that! Dunno why though!"

Turning away, Rayleigh put a hand to his head.

"Just be careful, Luffy. That's not only dangerous to others, but I don't think you want to expose too many people to that." He started to walk away, going to the Thousand Sunny to coat it.

"Alright! Later, Rayleigh!"

* * *

The two Straw Hats joined their family and they went off to go hide.

Before they could get very far, a familiar figure appeared.

Robin immediately moved in front of Luffy, crossing her arms as she did so.

Zoro wanted to move in front of Luffy as well, but stumbled a bit. His injuries were not yet healed.

"What are you doing here, Kuma?!"

Kuma stood before the Straw Hats, taking off one of his gloves.

"Watch out! He's going to send a shockwave towards us!" Zoro shouted as he grabbed Ussop and Brook to move out of the way.

Kuma held his palm out towards the group. A weird light shone from it.

Sanji took Nami's hand and kicked Franky to the side, softly of course.

Luffy wrapped Robin and Chopper in his arms and jumped just as Kuma launched his attack.

A beam of light had struck where they had all been. It exploded after it had contact with the ground.

"That wasn't a shockwave, that was a beam!" Luffy growled out as he transformed.

Ussop and Chopper were admiring the beam when they noticed that Luffy had not reacted.

"Be careful, everyone! Those beams explode!" Luffy had stars in his eyes, though they were red inside his black eyes.

"Ah! That's scary, Luffy!" "You're so freaking slow!"

* * *

Kuma started bombarding the Straw Hat's with exploding beams of light. Brook had carried Zoro and Ussop and zipped around the battlefield, noting that Zoro looked a little hurt.

Sanji wanted to get closer, but he had to make sure Nami would be safe!

Franky too.

"Hey, is that the guy who showed up after I passed out on Thriller Bark?" Luffy had a dark look on his face as he hid behind a tree with the other two Devil Fruit eaters.

Robin frowned and sucked on her lips.

"Yes. He's the one."

"What? What are you two talking about?!" Chopper was scared, but excited!

Those beams were too cool!

He felt movement as Luffy handed Chopper to Robin.

"Time for payback." Luffy cracked his knuckles as steam erupted from his body.

* * *

Kuma was tracking Brook's movements when a blur had sent him flying into a tree, crashing into it and making a crater.

He tried to locate the source, but was stopped short when a large black fist crushed it into oblivion.

The white monster behind the arm roared as it took the whole tree down.

* * *

"Yay! Go Luffy!" Ussop cheered for his captain atop Brook's shoulders. They had nothing to worry about as long as Luffy was-

A beam of light had almost hit Brook, but it hit the ground next to him. Zoro, Ussop, and Brook were sent flying through the air and they landed behind a tree root.

Zoro was able to land on his feet, but the other two landed on their heads.

And the one responsible showed himself.

It was another Kuma.

"Shit!" Zoro drew his swords and prepared to protect the other two.

* * *

Sanji witnessed the attack that Kuma had to endure and was very impressed! Luffy had smashed that guy into dust!

A weird sensation went through his spine. It was like something was going to-

Looking past Nami and Franky, he noticed the one thing that he didn't want to see.

Another Kuma was already starting to launch a beam, his mouth wide open and light spilled from it.

Sanji wasn't sure how fast he had moved, but he was happy that he had made it in time to save Nami!

Unfortunately, Franky was a little too close to the explosion, sending him flying past Sanji.

"You're an asshole, Curly Cook!"

Sanji tuned Franky's insult out as he stared at Kuma.

"Nami. Go find Franky and try to find a place to hide."

"But what about-"

Sanji gave Nami a small grin.

"Don't worry, Nami. I'll be fine. Aren't I your knight in shining armor?"

Frowning at the cook, Nami reluctantly left his side to find Franky.

Spinning rapidly in a circle, Sanji lit both his legs on fire.

Time to show this paw bastard what happens when he attempts to harm one of his angels!

* * *

Luffy heard explosions ring out through the air. While he was fighting, it was hard to see Kuma.

He had no presence. It was like he wasn't even there.

Hearing his name being shouted, he looked over to see Robin and Chopper approaching him.

Robin had her arms crossed.

A sudden presence was felt to his side! He turned quickly to see that another Kuma had appeared and was about to shoot a beam at him.

Black arms sprouted from his chest and closed his mouth, making his attack backfire and cause damage to himself.

"What the-?! Are there more of these guys?!"

"I think they're some sort of clone! They're not using Kuma's abilities!" Robin took a position that would protect Chopper if she had to do anything defensive.

"Chopper! Make sure Robin doesn't get hurt by this guy!" Luffy sent one of his hands into the ground, the steam rolling off his body as he prepared to launch himself.

"Be careful, Luffy!"

Luffy grinned at the two before flying towards Kuma, his body a rubber missle.

He didn't care how many times this guy would come back! He was never going to take his family away!

Never!

* * *

Zoro cut through Kuma with his Asura ability. The body was still tough, but there was no way Zoro was just going to lie down and die!

It seemed to have some effect on the bear-like man. He seemed to shake a bit.

Before he pointed his palm at Zoro and fired a beam of light.

Instead of feeling the searing hot pain of an explosion, Zoro was treated to the sight of Ussop standing in front of him.

"You think you can just kill us that easily! Think again!" Ussop jumped into the air, hammer held high.

"Impact Hammer!"

Ussop was sent flying back from the force, but Kuma stumbled backwards as he was hit from the force of his own attack.

It was almost enough to destroy him! Just a little more!

"Aubade Coup Droit!" A hole appeared in Kuma's neck as Brook blew part of it away with his attack.

"Woah, Brook! I didn't know you could do that!"

Brook looked just as shaken as Ussop.

"I didn't know I could do that either!"

He had a feeling that it was due to Ryuma teaching him a bit more about fighting. With his devil back, he felt stronger than before! It was amazing!

Kuma fell to the ground, defeated.

The Straw Hats let out a sigh of relief after fighting such a monster.

They could only hope that everyone else was okay. Making sure Zoro was going in the right direction, they headed back towards the area they had last seen the others in.

* * *

"Extra Hachis!"

Sanji's legs impacted with Kuma's body over and over again, making his legs look like one big red blur.

Kuma tried to fire another laser at him, but Sanji dodged to the side, performing a "Flambage Shot" against Kuma's body, forcing it further into the ground.

Kuma didn't move after that, so Sanji took a long drag on his cigarette.

That guy was tough! Even if he didn't hit him directly, Kuma still managed to hurt him by the explosions!

"Franky Boxy!"

Hearing Franky's attack, Sanji rushed over to where he had heard the cyborg.

If there was already two of them, who said there wasn't a third one?!

* * *

Franky pounded his fists into Kuma as fast as he could, making sure that Kuma couldn't point his arms at him by preventing Kuma from getting a clear shot.

"Franky! Move away!"

"Alright, Girlie!"

"My name is Nami!"

Franky did as he was told and watched as Nami sent a spear of lightning through Kuma's body.

It was pretty impressive! He didn't know she could do that!

Kuma wasn't done yet though. He pointed his hands at them, preparing to fire.

"Mouton...!" Sanji came from behind the two, flying towards the cyborg.

"...Shot!" His foot connected with Kuma's head, sending waves of fire shooting past the imposter's head.

Kuma slowly fell backwards on the ground.

Sanji let out a sigh of relief as he realized that they were all safe.

Nami ran over to him, and with Franky's help, picked him up and carried Sanji towards the last place they had seen the others.

* * *

Robin was almost blindsided by the Kuma that had appeared out of nowhere. He stood to her side, beam at the ready.

"Kokutei Roseo Metel!"

The historian's attention was turned towards the reindeer as he pushed Kuma away from her. He had used Jump Point to augment his speed to add more power to his strikes.

Kuma was going to retaliate, but another Robin had appeared on his body.

"Sorry, but I'll be taking this now ~" The Robin's arms and upper body turned black and ripped the cyborg's arm off. She erupted from his body and moved Chopper away just as a giant black hand smashed him into the ground.

"There you go, Reindeer-kun. Be sure to stay closer to us!" She smiled at him.

Chopper noted that this Robin had blue eyes while the one that he had helped had brown.

Shaking his head, he knew he couldn't think about that right now!

More of those guys were on the way! They seemed to surround them!

Right until a massive black blur came crashing through 2 or them, leaving only one left.

Luffy landed next to him, his clothes seemed singed.

Chopper didn't want to know how many Luffy had fought, but it appeared there was only one left.

Luffy roared at the last one and sent a giant black hand flying towards the cyborg. The hand was going to slap him.

Another black arm formed behind Kuma and smashed into him at the same time Luffy's hand had impacted. The large clap had left Kuma a smashed and a little bloody mess.

After giving the other two a thumbs up, Luffy started running towards where the others were.

It was important they all make a plan first! They couldn't just run around like headless roosters when these kind of guys were roaming about!

* * *

Luffy and Sanji's group arrived just in time to see Zoro almost smashed by a tall man's foot.

"ZORO!" Luffy launched himself towards the strange man who wore gold. He had a fancy Marine jacket that hung around his shoulders.

"This is bad! That's Kizaru!" Robin was about to form arms on the Admiral, but someone landed close by.

Using Kenbunshoku, she blocked the blunt side of a giant axe that had been swung at her.

"Sorry! I don't have anything in particular against pirates, but you guys better be prepared to die!"

A rotund man had stopped her attack. He wore a red leotard and glared at her.

* * *

Luffy flew through the air, but was sent flying away by a kick courtesy of Kizaru.

After crashing into a tree, Luffy looked up to see Kizaru's leg descending onto Zoro.

He was about to unleash his full wrath on the man, but Zoro was rescued by a man Luffy had not expected to show up.

"Don't you go plucking these young sprouts just yet, Kizaru! Their Era has not begun yet!"

"Rayleigh!"

The Dark King held Kizaru's leg up with his own, preventing Zoro from being smashed against the ground.

Ussop ran by and picked Zoro up. He ran away as fast as he could with Brook.

"EVERYONE!" Luffy screamed into the air, hoping everyone would hear him.

"LET'S SPLIT UP! JUST GET AWAY FROM HERE! WE'LL MEET IN THREE DAYS!"

Luffy glanced around at the area, noticing that everyone had agreed in some way. He launched himself back towards Robin with his fist cocked back.

The rotund man, who Robin learned was named Sentomaru, had to block Luffy's strike, but even then the axe now sported huge cracks going up the side of the blade.

"Damn it! Haki users!" Sentomaru cursed his luck as he eyed the new arrival.

He didn't even need to use Kenbunshoku to know that the man was strong.

"We don't have time to play with you!" Luffy sent Sentomaru flying away with a "Whip".

* * *

The three Straw Hats (Luffy, Chopper, and Robin) started to run away from the area when they heard Ussop screaming.

They turned to see that another Kuma had appeared, shooting beams of exploding light at them as they tried to flee.

Luffy was going to launch himself, but was knocked to the side by Sentomaru, who had recovered from Luffy's attack.

"Sorry, Straw Hat, but the 100 million Roronoa Zoro is almost dead anyway! We'll be aiming for him now!"

Sentomaru looked quickly at Robin, who had her arms crossed, and he threw his axe at her.

She was barely able to dodge. Focusing on making her black arms erupt from him was tougher than usual!

"You can't pierce my skin if your will is weaker than mine. Give it up!" The man shouted as he was about to hit her with his palm.

"Heavy Gong!"

A large fist smashed against Sentomaru's face, sending him away from Robin.

Chopper had blindsided the man.

"Come on, Robin! Luffy's going to catch up in a second!"

"Alright!"

They started to run, but heard one of the worst noises either of them had been subjected to.

Their heard the screams of pain coming from their family.

Twisting their necks to look at the others, they were shocked.

It was horrible! Two Kumas were in the area, shooting at the others!

Chopper saw Ussop and Brook get knocked off their feet from an explosion. Zoro fell to the ground in a painful heap.

One of the Kumas held Sanji up with his hand and pierced through him with a beam. The beam exploded behind Sanji, making him sustain even more damage.

Ussop had picked Zoro up again and tried to make an escape, but a beam pierced through him as well, making him drop Zoro to the earth.

His family...! He was losing his family...!

* * *

Robin heard growls coming from Chopper before he bellowed loudly in the air, becoming a giant humanoid monster.

"Chopper! We have to keep running!"

Chopper didn't respond. He instead tried to smash the recovering Sentomaru.

Seeing how Chopper wouldn't respond, Robin noticed Luffy was sprawled on the floor.

Blood spilled out of his mouth as he coughed. His body looked feverish and he tried to get up only to slip back down.

Rushing over to him, she picked him up and started running towards the others.

They needed help! Badly!

"Stop, PX-1."

The familiar voice sent chills up Robin's spine as she realized who had now arrived.

Another Kuma stood next to the imposter. This one held a bible in its hand.

There was no mistake this time. That was the real Bartholomew Kuma.

* * *

He stood in front of Zoro and Ussop. The imposter was about to shoot them, but stopped due to Kuma's presence.

"If you were going on a trip..." Kuma removed one of his gloves quickly.

"Where would you like to go?" His voice could be heard from where she stood. He was looking right at Zoro.

Then he touched Zoro with his palm, making him disappear.

"...Zoro..?!" Luffy stirred in her arms and broke free.

_The green haired man had smiled and defended Luffy from getting cut._

"_I'll join your pirate crew! But remember this, I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman! If you get in my way, you'll have to pay with your life!" _

He fell to the ground and could only stare at where he had last seen the swordsman.

"...Zoro?!"

_Zoro was raising his sword into the air. Luffy had watched him as he laid down in the small boat. _

"_I'm sorry for making you worry about me...if I don't become an invincible swordsman, you'll worry about me, right?" _

_Luffy could hear the choked sobs that escaped from Zoro's throat._

_This was the only time he had ever heard Zoro cry._

"_From now on...I won't lose to anyone ever again!"_

Looking over to Sentomaru, his face transformed into one of utter contempt.

* * *

Sentomaru thought he felt something break when something had been sent into his side.

Looking to see what it was, he found that Straw Hat Luffy had crashed into him.

And his fist was already close to his face.

Pushing the rubberman back a bit, Sentomaru saw that Luffy was already going through high manifestation levels. Most of his features had disappeared, leaving only his clothes and his face had been replaced with a demon's.

"Where did that guy send Zoro!?" The beast's voice was warped, a clear sign that Luffy was less human and more monster now.

"My mouth isn't that easy to open. Be it true or false, they say that any man sent flying by those paws will fly through the air for three days and three nights."

Luffy seemed to stumble as he heard the man speak.

Zoro wasn't even here anymore?

Luffy felt a strange feeling from the presence inside him. It had only known rage, but now there was a new feeling.

Fear. The devil felt fear from losing Zoro.

If Zoro had been sent away, the others would be in danger too...

Sentomaru kept speaking, but Luffy tuned him out.

He was losing his family...

Luffy clenched his teeth and glared at Kuma.

He was the captain! He would protect everything!

* * *

Ussop tried his best to run away! This man had just taken Zoro away like that! He had even sent his own ally away!

This was too much! They needed to get away! Staying here was suicide!

"GET AWAY FROM THEM!" A warped roar came from the side.

Ussop turned to see Luffy flying towards Kuma with a bloodthirsty snarl on his face.

Kuma just sent him flying away into a tree. The tree fell down from the force of Luffy's "Rocket".

Just then, Ussop realized something.

If he could send them away with just a slap, why did he not do the same to Luffy?!

Fear consumed Ussop as he realized what he had figured out.

"EVERYONE! RUN! GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Ussop screamed as loudly as he could!

They needed to get away! Not only because they needed to survive!

But because this man was going to torture Luffy! He wanted him to suffer! They needed to run! To get away!

Luffy didn't deserve that pain! Ussop would die before he would force Luffy to go through that!

Picking up Sanji, Ussop was going to sprint full speed as long as he could.

Even if he would die, he would die saving one of his family!

But before he could take even one step, Kuma appeared before him in an instant!

This guy...! He could teleport..!

He had his hand already raised, prepared to send them flying away!

Brook pushed Ussop away along with Sanji.

"Go! Run away!"

"Brook!"

"I'LL PROTECT YOU! EVEN IF IT COSTS ME MY LIFE!" Brook shouted as he shielded the two as best as he could.

"Oh, wait. I'm already dea-"

Kuma had paused in his attack, but resumed after he had seen who it was.

Only the movement of air remained of Brook as he was sent flying away.

Ussop stared wide eyed where the skeleton had stood.

He heard a blood curdling scream in the background. Luffy was screaming in anguish at watching his family slowly disappear before his very eyes!

Ussop heard another cry of pain and rage right beside him. Sanji had gotten up and he ruffling his hair in a mad haze.

"SHIT...! What am I doing staring off into space AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! I JUST LOST TWO OF MY FAMILY RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES...!"

The cook glared at the cyborg with the fury of an inferno. He would pay for this!

Sanji shoved Ussop behind him as he activated "Diable Jambe" one final time. Even if his legs were to break and tear off, he would not just sit idly by anymore!

"NO! You don't understand! We have to all get out of here...!" Ussop wanted to drag Sanji away, but it was already too late.

Sanji kicked off the air towards Kuma! He approached with a frightening speed and was about to rake his blazing leg across the pawman's face!

Kuma raised his palm and set Sanji flying away into a tree. The "Diable Jambe" deactivated from the force.

Ussop could only watch as Sanji was taken out in an instant, being snuffed out by the pawman's abilites.

Kuma slowly approached Ussop as he sat on the ground.

The sniper was pulled out of his shock and started to fire many exploding stars at Kuma, doing almost no damage.

"EVERYONE!" Ussop cried out what he thought to be his last words to his family, "RUN AWAY! YOU ALL HAVE TO GET AWAY!"

Kuma raised his hand. The gesture seemed like a death sentence to the sniper.

Ussop caught one last look at his captain.

Luffy had his hand reaching for him. His face was one of agony and loss.

A tear slipped out of Ussop's eye.

He had failed. He...he...

He was too weak...!

"LU-!"

And in an instant, he was gone.

* * *

"_He's alright...?! He's really alright...?!" _

"_I'm so happy...!" The skeleton cried. _

"_I'm so happy to be alive right now!"_

"BROOK!"

"_Luffy! I'm so sorry!" The sniper's voice was distorted by his tears. _

"_I...I..I...I want to continue sailing with you! I didn't mean it when I said I quit! Please...! Forgive me...!" _

"USSOP!"

Luffy screamed as he watched his friends disappear.

"USSOP! DAMN IT ALL...!"

Sanji rushed towards Kuma, intending on smashing his face in.

But Kuma had anticipated Sanji this time. In less than 10 seconds, the cyborg had taken 3 more of Luffy's family.

"_Hey, have you ever heard of All-Blue?" Sanji wore the widest grin Luffy had seen since he met him._

"_It's said to be an area where all the fish in the world live! It's a chef's dream!" _

_Luffy smiled at the man. He had seen how trapped the chef had made himself._

_Looking at him now, he looked free. _

"SANJI!"

"You...!" Luffy smashed his head into the ground and roared! The devil was scared! It was enraged! He wanted to save his family...!

So what the hell was he doing...!?

His heart pumped faster than it had ever done so before. Luffy's blood felt like liquid fire as it coursed through his body. He spat out a globule of blood and the grass it had landed on caught fire.

Luffy didn't notice Kuma talking to Rayleigh. Nor did he notice Robin running towards him.

"YOU...!" Luffy let loose another warped roar that splintered the ground around him.

Robin touched his shoulder and he felt felt her emotions flow into him.

She had thought that she might be able to calm him down like before.

* * *

Luffy felt pain and fear flow into him. Robin was scared! She was hurting because her family was being taken away too!

She felt helplessness and failure! She was the 1st mate, but she was unable to...!

Luffy shot forward at a speed he had never reached before.

He rammed his fist into Kuma's gut, eliciting a grunt from the cyborg as he felt flesh and cybernetics collapse under his strength.

Kuma teleported again. He had appeared in front of Franky and Nami.

Franky knew that he didn't stand a chance.

"Girlie, get out of here!" He tried to use a Coup de Vent, but unlike the imposters, Kuma stood resolute in the gust.

"Franky!"

"Go, get out of here, Sister!" He shouted as he was going to try to duke it out with the other cyborg.

He couldn't just let his family be taken again! He had already lost one, he couldn't bear to lose another!

"Strong...!"

Kuma didn't allow him any time to attack. Franky was already gone.

Luffy roared once more and tried to stop the cyborg from taking Nami.

She reached out for her savior.

"Luffy! Help -!"

Nami was now gone as well. The last thing Luffy had seen was the fear on her face.

Luffy wailed into the air! His friends...! His family...!

_Franky danced around on the table with Ussop and Chopper. They were having a blast! Franky looked more alive than he had in days!_

_The cyborg was on his hands and knees in front of the graves of his family. _

_What was the point of living if your family was gone?!_

"FRANKY!"

"_NAMI! You are my friend!" _

_The orange haired woman gripped tightly at the straw hat she wore and gave him a true smile while tears threatened to fall from her eyes. _

"_Yes..." _

_Nami cried as she looked up to Luffy, her arm gushed blood from the self-inflicted wound._

"_Luffy...help me..." _

"NAMI!"

Luffy gripped his head tightly and let loose another cry of pain.

He was so weak...! Even after everything, he was too weak to protect his own family...!

Terror shook his body.

"CHOPPER..! ROBIN...!"

They were going to be taken from him!

The devil raged inside! He couldn't take those two! Not them...!

Luffy didn't have much of a choice as he saw the manifested Chopper attempt to attack Kuma.

It ended in failure.

_"I want to be a pirate, but I'm a monster! I'm not able to be friends with humans!"_

_"I can't join you...but if you come by someday...then..maybe..-"_

_"SHUT UP AND COME WITH US!" Luffy shouted in the air._

_He couldn't stand the pain in Chopper's voice. It sounded so broken._

"CHOPPER...!"

Luffy felt numb as he saw Kuma looking at Robin.

_"But thank you. For saying that you're glad I exist." _

He reached out towards her. Time moved slower for him and he watched her look at him with terrified brown eyes.

_"I have no where else to go...so let me stay on this ship." _

Kuma teleported right next to her. His hand was already in a position to send her far away.

Much farther than he could bear.

_Luffy put his other hand on top of Robin's and she looked at him. She had tears in her eyes and one even fell down her face._

_"Please, don't cry."_

_"I promise, I'll protect you. I won't let the World take anything away from you ever again."_

_She looked into his determined eyes. It looked like she managed to bring back her willful captain._

_Robin just smiled a little and felt the warmth from his hands._

_"I never thought that I would be allowed this." Robin wiped some tears away from her eyes._

_Luffy saw pain, but more than that._

_He saw that she felt free. He saw hope within her eyes._

_"Thank you, Luffy."_

"NO!" "Luffy!"

Kuma's hand got closer to taking her away from him.

_Her forehead knocked together with his._

_"You've protected us, Luffy. Please, allow us to do the same for you..."_

_Luffy felt peaceful as he stared into her brown orbs._

He WOULD protect her!

* * *

Kuma was about to send Robin flying towards Tequila Wolf, the area he had told Dragon to send some of his men.

It might have been a bit harsh for the woman, but this was necessary.

A giant black hand formed and Kuma knew it was futile.

Her powers would not protect her no-

A loud and monstrous roar made him pause.

He felt his powers disappear for a second, but only a second was needed.

Kuma cursed his luck as he watched Luffy fly by him, taking the woman out of reach.

Thinking quickly, Kuma realized what he had to do.

Looks like the Revolutionaries would have to remain disappointed for a while.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed!**

** If you think it's rushed, you're correct! I literally had only a hour or so to work on this some more, so I tried to put in as much as I could.  
**

**Let me know what you think! I personally should have looked for better quotes for Robin. I was sure I had some somewhere...**


	24. Arrival on Amazon Lily

**Hello again, everyone! Hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

**Sorry for being so late with this chapter, but it just killed me! With Robin with Luffy, it's hard to think of how to proceed, seeing as Robin could probably hide Luffy and herself for as long as they need to hide. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy! Let me know if I did anything really wrong!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

In an instant, Luffy and Robin were sent flying through the air, Luffy was doing his best to hold on to the woman in his arms.

"Robin! Are you alright?!"

Robin was panting for air. The experience of losing her family was still too fresh.

"I...I'm alright, Luffy."

"Gr! That bear-looking bastard! He took everyone away from us!"

Luffy looked tired as he held onto Robin. His body was paying for the power he had used to try to save his family.

The woman didn't respond. She had closed her eyes in thought.

"If we're flying like this," Luffy stopped his raging to listen, "doesn't that mean that the others were sent in the same manner?"

A few seconds passed as Luffy processed this new information. They were still flying above the ocean at an insane speed.

"Oh?! So that means they're alright!" Luffy sighed in relief, "That's so great!"

The two flew so more over the ocean. Many different islands and creatures could be seen as they sailed through the air.

"It'd suck if we fell into the sea and died."

The historian laughed a bit.

She tried to converse with Hana, but the devil was quiet.

"Luffy? How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright now! It's good that our family is still alright!"

Robin sucked on her lips and frowned.

"Do you know why he had saved us for last?"

The captain looked a little confused.

"Why would he save us for last? That doesn't make any sense."

"He's the one that told me the Revolutionaries were after me...do you think he intended to send me to them?"

Growling could be heard from the rubberman.

"Maybe, but that doesn't matter. As long as we're together, I'll be sure to protect you!"

Robin giggled.

"And I'll be sure to protect you too, Luffy."

They both smiled at each other.

Everything would be alright as long as they just stayed together.

* * *

The two fell asleep while they continued flying through the air. An indefinite amount of time passed by as they slept their wounds off.

A sudden crash awoke the two. Luffy was smashed a bit between the earth and Robin.

They had finally landed! The two looked around at their surroundings.

Jungle met their eyes. It was in the middle of the afternoon, judging by the position of the sun. A giant boar was eying them hungrily nearby.

"Luffy? Do you still have your vivre card?" Robin asked as she pulled hers out.

"Ah! That's right!" He reached into his pocket and pulled the little white paper shred out. It moved a bit in his hand.

"Alright! So we just follow this to get to the others?!"

"Yes, I believe that they will also follow the vivre card back to the Sabody Archipelago."

"Yay!" Luffy then leered at the boar.

The boar, who had just been staring at them with drool, suddenly felt very small compared to the pirate captain.

"And we even have some food too! This is really great!"

* * *

A short time later, and some persuasion from Robin, the boar was cooked and eaten by the two Straw Hats. The glutton had eaten most of it while the historian ate some ribs that were a little charred.

Even if Luffy was resistant to disease and parasite, the Hana Hana eater was not.

It was a little strange that some violet petals came off of her skin and wilted on the ground, disintegrating. Robin would have to ask Hana later what that meant.

She told Luffy that they should explore the island if there were any inhabitants, which Luffy agreed to excitedly. He wanted to go on an adventure!

Luffy made her promise not to use Kenbunshoku, which he still called haki/mantra. He wanted this to be exciting! It would be too boring if they just knew what was ahead.

They walked alongside each other, Luffy holding a stick and singing his "Baka Song". It pleased Robin to see that he was in high spirits.

Noises of civilization came from up ahead! There really seemed to be people living on this island!

Luffy was about to charge headfirst out into the open, but Robin stopped him. She formed eyes and ears to spy on the people.

What appeared to be a fortress was ahead. Many buildings were built along the mountain wall and there was a large palace with an arena in front of it and a small village surrounded the palace.

All she saw were women, there were no men in sight. The historian saw women cooking, cleaning, fishing, fighting, and more in very revealing, but comfortable clothing.

This caused some sweat to form on her brow. The lack of men gave away what island they were on.

She and Luffy were on Amazon Lily, an island exclusive to only the Kuja, a tribe of all-female pirates.

"Luffy? We have to be care-" Looking over at her captain, she saw that he had mushrooms sprouting all over his body.

Lacking medical expertise, she couldn't tell if it was fatal or not for the rubberman. The mushrooms that she had tried to pull out of him were as rubbery as he was.

Hearing some noises coming towards them, Robin decided to hide and see if they could help Luffy.

If they were hostile towards the defenseless man, she would show no mercy to them.

* * *

After she watched three women drag Luffy away, claiming they had to get urgent medical treatment for the "strange girl" that had eaten a "grows-on-the-body" mushroom, Robin decided to speak to Hana for a bit.

She formed another clone and effortlessly transferred Hana into it. The process was much easier to do, and she had actually fought side-by-side with the devil against the Kumas.

Her clone started to dance, swinging her arms and legs through the air.

"Ah..." Hana sighed heavily, "...you take fresh air for granted, Robin-chan."

"It's nice to see you too, Hana." Robin flashed a smile at the dancing woman.

Hana stopped her movements and looked at Robin.

"So, what do I owe this pleasure to?"

"Can I not speak to you whenever I want to?"

The devil stopped dancing and looked at Robin carefully.

"There is always a reason. I know I wouldn't do something like this if I were in your position."

"Well, maybe I do have a few questions relating to the Hana Hana Fruit."

Forming an arm and leg chair, Hana and Robin sat down.

"What's there to know? It's the fruit that lets you grow, like a flower."

"Is that all there is to it?" Robin raised an eyebrow at the smirking woman, "There must be more than that..."

"There are a lot of things to all Devil Fruits." Hana stretched her limbs out, moaning in pleasure at the cracking sounds her joints made.

"You humans just limit yourself. Hana Hana Fruit? That's something you human's applied to me. I'm much more than that..."

"So, it's more than just growing limbs and letting you out?"

"It also allows me to purge your body of "foreign agents", but beyond that, you'll have to determine for yourself what you're capable of."

Hana frowned and disappointingly looked at Robin.

"Robin-chan...you're a little spoiled."

"In what way?"

"Most of the fruits you've seen are pretty powerful. Your own is possibly the scariest one yet."

"Well," Hana started to smile again, "except for one..."

Robin remained silent, conveying she wished Hana to continue.

"The only fruit that I had been unsure about was the Gum Gum. I thought it was weak...but it turns out, it's "irregular"."

"Hana, please. Stop with making more questions and answer the ones I have..."

Hana giggled at Robin's displeasure.

"To be honest, I don't actually know that much more than you do. I just remember our pleasant stay at the Facility."

The historian realized what she was implying.

"You remember our time at the Facility?"

"Oh yes." Hana took on a disgusted look, "I remember it all. And no, I do not know who our child is or who the father was. They only referred to him as...unruly."

Robin sighed and held her head in her hands, leaning on her knees as she did so. Hana patted Robin's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the distraught woman.

"Work on your mood swings a bit, Robin-chan. The past is the past for a reason. The only thing we can do is make a future for ourselves."

The devil looked up into the distance and smirked.

"Speaking of our future, your rubberboy is being molested."

Taking a moment to process Hana's words, Robin looked up and used Kenbunshoku to sense where Luffy was.

He seemed surrounded by many different presences. 2 of them were really close to him.

Too close for comfort.

"Bye, Robin-chan ~" Hana waved at the historian's disappearing figure and slowly disintegrated into rose petals.

* * *

After reaching the village, Robin stole some nearby clothing to blend in with the tribe members.

Hopefully, they wouldn't realize she wasn't one of them.

She made her way to where Luffy was and noticed he was surrounded by women.

And that he was naked. And that all the women were looking at him in confusion.

"Isn't this person...?!" An older woman was yelling, "...a man?!"

"WHAT?!" The entire crowd shouted sans Robin who frowned.

This was going to be troublesome.

* * *

Robin found herself staring at Luffy's naked form. He was put into a cage after the Kuja tribe had healed him to the best of their abilities.

They had taken his hat from him, but Robin was able to grab it and wear it. She knew Luffy would look for it immediately after waking up. He also wouldn't be happy seeing anyone but family wearing it.

Many of the women had actually commented on her looks, but wondered how strong she was. They wanted her to compete in the arena.

Robin had almost taken them up on their offer until she saw her captain stirring.

"...huh? Where am I...? The last thing I remember was..."

Luffy put his hand on the top of his head.

"AH! Where's my hat?!" He looked around in panic.

Spotting his hat, his hand reached out to grab it, not noticing the women gasping in shock.

Luffy did notice that Robin was the one wearing his hat. She had her finger in front of her lips, signifying that he shouldn't give her away.

"That's better! Now I have my hat!" The rubberman grinned at his friend, showing that he understood.

"Gah! I have no clothes!"

Luffy finally realized that he had no clothes on. He had gotten up in his search for his hat and now stood bare to all the women present.

Luckily for him, they had no idea what a man was. Robin didn't care about Luffy's current state of dress.

She never cared about sexual attraction. It was only a tool to help her survive out in the World.

"Brr...it's cold! Do you have my clothes?"

And Luffy didn't care at all about his nakedness.

The women stared at him in shock.

"Um...before you put on any clothes..." One of them stepped forward. She had shoulder-length golden hair and she wore a pinstripe stocking on her right leg, "...could you tell us what in that bag between your legs?"

Robin had to resist the urge to sigh.

"This?" Luffy looked down, "This is my kintama!"

"Kintama?" The group of women asked again as Robin tried to block the conversation out.

"Yeah! They're balls of gold!"

The Kuja tribe gasped in shock! Balls of pure gold?!

"Could you take them out and show us?!" The women cried out, holding out their hands.

"Are you stupid!? If I do that, I'll die!"

A bead of sweat made its way down Robin's temple.

"Well..." The blonde woman pulled a bundle of clothes out of a mysterious place, "...here are some clothes to help replace the ones you had. Yours were destroyed, so we made some like them!"

"Oh?!" The rubberman was smiling as he took the clothes, "You really did that for me?! Thanks a ton!"

* * *

The women, including Robin, watched as Luffy started to lose his cheerfulness as he put his clothes on.

Even his friend's laughter didn't make the situation any better.

Before he could outrage at this humiliation, he saw rose petals flying around his shoulder.

"I think you look cute, Luffy."

The clothes that they had made for him had flower frills on it. The Kuja women commented that it looked very "sexy".

Looking towards her, Luffy saw Robin making the shushing gesture.

"You may speak, I formed an ear on you as well. Make sure you don't speak too loudly."

"But...Robin..." He whined.

The Kuja tribe were confused at his action.

Did all men talk to themselves?

"Please, bear with it, Luffy. I'm sure that I can help you out with it later."

She had seen Luffy's sewing skills. Embroidery was far beyond Luffy's skills, and his sewing was only decent enough to patch things up.

The man crossed his arms and sighed.

"Fine, but soon, okay? I really want to get back to the others..."

"I do too."

"Robin-chan? I need to speak with you. Now." A voice in Robin's head made itself known.

Hana had surprised Robin, but she had controlled herself.

"I'll be right back, Luffy. Try to stay safe."

"Alright, Robin." The rubberman looked a little worried.

"Don't be gone for too long, alright?"

"It won't take much time. I'll try to make sure of that."

* * *

The historian took her leave, listening to Luffy's displeasure at being trapped in a cage.

Forming another clone in the forest, Hana took control of it within a second.

Hana paced back and forth with a focused look on her face.

"Hana? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, but I can actually tell you more about the Hana Hana and something else."

Looking into her eyes, Robin could see the devil was serious. She always knew her mimic to be cryptic or unhelpful, but it was strange seeing her act this way.

"I can sense someone very strong coming towards the island. I'm not sure if you and rubberboy will be able to fight them, so I'll have to tell you more about your own abilities."

"Wait, so you know what I am capable of? Why not just teach me how to be stronger?"

Robin heard some explosions in the distance. The woman assumed that Luffy had become impatient or had upset the islanders.

Sensing Luffy's presence, Robin prepared to run to his location.

"He'll be fine, Robin. Just let us do this one thing first."

"We're on an island full of hostiles! I can't just risk his life for some training!"

"Right now, you two are the strongest on the island! The one that's almost here is the one to worry about!"

Robin struggled a bit within herself.

"Do you doubt his strength?!"

The historian looked at the devil who wore an impatient expression.

This was the only time Hana might actually help her with growing stronger.

"Alright. Please make it quick."

"Fine. Close your eyes and try to picture yourself in my place."

Doing as the devil instructed, Robin pictured herself in Hana's place.

A feeling of movement made her open her eyes and she realized that she was now standing where Hana had been pacing.

The devil stared back at her with blue eyes.

"Impressive, Robin-chan. You got in on the first try."

"Well, I don't exactly have the time to be playing around, do I?"

"I suppose not. Now, the next thing you need to know is something I can't really show you."

Hana suddenly stared off into the distance.

"That strong presence is here. You need to find rubberboy and get out of here."

Nodding, Robin ran off into the forest.

"Just remember!" The fading words of her mimic reached her ears, "We absorbed part of rubberboy's willpower!"

Robin noted those words, but didn't think too much about them right now.

Luffy's safety was the most important thing to her.

* * *

She arrived to see many of the Kuja warriors standing in an area. This was the last place she had felt Luffy, but he was gone.

Using Kenbunshoku again, she found him to be near the top of the mountain.

Falling rapidly towards the presence Hana had told her about.

Wasting no more time, she focused her powers to form a clone near Luffy.

Hopefully this would work.

* * *

Luffy landed with a loud thud on the roof he jumped towards. The roof seemed to crack and splinter.

Robin formed next to him, surprising the rubberman.

"Robin?! How did you get here?!"

His friend didn't respond.

The roof collapsed, sending the two falling into the tower.

"Cien Fleur: Wing!"

Robin grabbed him and formed a pair of wings to help slow their descent.

She let him go, watching as he landed on his feet near a gigantic bathtub.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

A surprised gasp caught the two's attention.

Robin noted the familiar marking on the woman's back.

"Hey, I think I've seen that somewhere before!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing a finger at the nude woman.

"You saw it?!" The woman was furious, and Robin suspected it wasn't because a man dropped in on her while she was bathing.

This was the powerful presence Hana had felt.

Two more women rushed into the bathroom. One put a robe on the nude woman.

"Sister! Is everything al- is that a man?!" The two pointed at the Straw Hats.

"They saw what was on my back!"

The two other women jumped in shock.

"Well, they'll just have to die then!"

"What?!" Robin looked towards Luffy, "We just saw you naked! I don't understand!"

Clearly, Luffy did not see why a woman would want to kill him if he saw them naked.

"We would rather die than let anyone live after seeing what is on our backs!" The once naked woman put her hands in a heart shape towards the two pirates.

"Take what you saw to your graves!" Robin narrowed her eyebrows at the woman's rudeness, "Mero Mero Mellow!" Beams in the form of a heart flew towards them.

"Noro Noro?! Oh no! We're going to slow down!" Luffy covered his head with his arms and tried to get away.

Robin said nothing as the beams passed by them.

The two stood still, but nothing had happened to them.

Luffy stopped covering his head with his arms and looked at the woman with his lips sucked in.

Everyone paused as they tried to think of what had just happened.

"Mero Mero Mellow!"

She tried again, Luffy covering his head, and nothing had happened.

The Kujas looked confused along with Luffy. Robin didn't care too much as she grabbed Luffy and headed for the window as the Kujas muttered amongst themselves to why the woman's ability didn't work.

She formed some more wings to lower themselves to the ground, but they were surrounded by the islanders.

* * *

Luffy and Robin found themselves tied up with some sort of snake as they sat on the floor of what looked like an arena floor. The rubberman struggled against the snakes, but he claimed they were as strong as steel. Robin had tried to remove the snakes, but they would bite at her fingers if she tried to untie them.

The islanders were sitting on some seats around the arena. They chanted out the names, "Hebihime", "Lady Marigold", and "Lady Sandersonia". The three women from the bathroom were seated in front of them in some sort of throne.

"Now, I'm asking you, man. How and why did you come here?!" The one Robin assumed to be Lady Hebihime demanded of Luffy.

"I told you, I don't know! I was just sent flying here through the sky! When I woke up, I was here!"

"And you, woman!" Lady Hebihime shouted towards Robin, "Why did you help this man?!"

Looking down at herself, Robin saw that she was still dressed like one of the islanders.

"I am part of his pirate crew. My name is Robin. If you'll allow me to explain, I can clarify my captain's response."

The islanders started jeering at the two Straw Hats. They thought that they had spoken rudely to their Empress.

"I will not be swayed by your trickery! You two will not be leaving here alive!"

"But all we wanted was a boat! If you'll give us that, we'll leave!" Luffy pleaded with the Empress, but was not heard.

Robin thought they could settle this peacefully, but it seems she would have to get violent.

Her arms turned black and she prepared to switch out with Hana, but was stopped when the blonde woman from earlier jumped onto the platform.

"Please! Wait, Hebihime!"

Robin could hear some of her friends cry out the name, "Margaret".

"This man...he doesn't seem like the type to lie! If he says he's going to leave...then he will! Please, spare his life!"

"Oh?! It's you! Thanks for speaking up for us!" Luffy smiled at Margaret.

Something must have happened while she had been gone.

"You're one of the guardian warriors?" Lady Hebihime spoke to Margaret.

"I am called Margaret."

"The moment that man entered our country, where men are forbidden, death is certain. Why do you stand up for him?"

"Because...because I brought him here in the first place."

"Margaret!" "No!"

Two other women jumped onto the arena and kneeled down next to Margaret towards Hebihime.

"L-Lady Hebihime! There's a reason for that!"

"That's right! We just found the man in the forest covered in mushrooms! We thought he was one of us!"

Robin knew she recognized them from somewhere. These were the women that had brought Luffy into the village.

"If you're going to punish Margaret, then punish us as well!"

"Stop it, you two!" Margaret tried to make them stand and leave, but her friends would not budge.

Robin saw Hebihime walk down the stairs to the arena.

"It's all my fault! I was the only one that brought the man here!" The blonde Kuja bowed towards the throne.

"That's enough."

Margaret looked up to see that Hebihime was standing in front of her kneeling form.

"Raise your head, Margaret. You're very brave..." Hebihime moved Margaret's head up by lifting her chin with a finger.

Hebihime made a heart shape with her hands and pointed it at the three Kujas.

"Mero Mero Mellow!"

* * *

Robin watched as the three women who had pleaded with Hebihime turn to stone. Luffy had his mouth wide open as they stopped moving.

"How cruel..." The historian muttered as glared at Hebihime.

These women worshiped her. How could she just harm her own family?

"H-Hey! What was that for?!" Luffy rushed over to the three stone statues.

"I owe my life to them for saving me! Why'd you do that?!"

"This is their punishment." Hebihime glanced towards Luffy with a smirk, "For saving you."

The other islanders started to swoon over their Empress, even as their friends stood still, petrified.

"Bring out Bacura!"

The crowd began to cheer as a giant black panther was brought out. It stalked towards the two Straw Hats and the snakes that bound them ran off.

"Luffy..."

"I'll take care of this, Robin. Don't worry." Luffy handed her his hat and clenched his fists.

"Beauty is strength! Fight with all your power, and die a noble death!"

The panther lunged at Luffy with its mouth wide open.

Luffy smashed his fist into the side of the panther's head and sent it flying into the stands, surprising all of the Kujas.

The three Lady's stared at him with only a little shock. They didn't expect him to be very powerful.

"Something's wrong with all of you!" Luffy was glaring at the crowd.

"How could you just sit there, laughing like idiots, while this woman was turning your friends into stone?!"

His skin turned white and the islanders felt a little fear when they looked at the man.

The crowd responded with an uproar! What were they supposed to do when they had broken their laws!

Luffy heard laughing coming from the throne and turned to see Hebihime laughing at him.

"No matter what I do...I will be forgiven! It it because..."

She tried to make the cutest face she could.

"...I am beautiful!"

Luffy could hear everyone else, aside from Robin, enthuse over her beauty.

"Fufufufufu...don't you feel the same way?"

"God! You're pissing me off!" Luffy's face demonized as he sneered at her.

Everyone, aside from Robin, gasped in shock!

Hebihime herself looked close to fainting. She was saying something to her sisters as she trembled.

The crowd shouted for his death.

"Lady Marigold! Lady Sandersonia! Go!"

The two other women came forward. Robin stood next to Luffy.

'If they would not listen to reason, then they'll listen to strength.'

"You ready, Robin?"

"Yes."

The two Straw Hats prepared to fight.

* * *

**Ugh...this chapter just utterly killed me. Hope you all enjoy!  
**

**My updates will probably be getting slower too! School's starting up for me again. **


	25. A Little Scuffle and Shaky Resolutions

**Hello again, everyone! Here's a new chapter!**

**Okay, school just utterly killed me. That, and now I'm re-readdicted to Medabots for the 4th or 5th time. Oh well, I'll just write that story whenever I have time. **

**Amazon Lily is just boring to me. No major action scenes or anything. It's just the introduction to Haki, which was introduced in this story in chapter 1 or 2. Meh. **

**A note about Hancock and Robin. Hancock will feel jealous, but she's not going to outright murder the historian because of it. Luffy wouldn't like that...or something. **

**Hope you all enjoy the chapter! I know I wanted to say more, but I'm too lazy and tired at the moment.**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

The sound of cheering could be heard as the two women descended down the stairs, approaching the two Straw Hats. The crowd raved about some sort of Gorgon curse as they transformed into giant snake-like beings. The one known as Sandersonia turned into a giant green anaconda/human hybrid while the one known as Marigold transformed into a giant king cobra/human hybrid.

They circled the other two ability users while the crowd went wild.

"Curse? No matter how you look at it, they just ate some Devil Fruits." Luffy commented as he cracked his knuckles loudly. Robin glanced at the two and decided to have a little fun.

"May I take the marigold, Luffy?."

"Sure, I'll let you have her. Just let me take care of something first!"

The rubberman ran over to the petrified women and lifted them all up, stunning the crowd and the women Robin now knew as the Gorgon sisters. She recognized the woman that still sat on her snake throne.

The woman was Boa Hancock, or Hebihime. She was a Shichibukai that was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world.

She had to admit, the woman was very beautiful, but she didn't care. Hancock was dangerous and wanted them dead, which Robin would not allow.

"Rather than worrying about otherss, shouldn't you think about yoursself?" Sandersonia drawled out as she watched the man move the helpless statues out of harm's way.

"Shut up! That's for me to decide!" Luffy yelled out as he jumped towards the elongated woman.

* * *

A halberd attempted to cut Robin in two, but she surprised the Zoan user by blocking with a black arm.

"Haki?! So...you have that ability..." Robin had to give Marigold some credit. The snake woman actually got a little distance between them after that.

Marigold had put some Busoshoku in her weapon, which the historian found interesting as she healed the small cut on her forearm.

"Snake Stick!"

The tip of her tail came towards Robin, intending to stab the Straw Hat, but she stopped it with one hand.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't going to be as easy as you believed it was."

Robin was about to begin her own attack until she had to dodge a jet of purple liquid that was ejected from the snake woman's mouth. It burned the ground that it landed against.

Trying to sense anymore attacks such as that one, Robin found herself struck in the arm with the purple liquid as she tried to dodge it once more.

Ignoring the deep burning on her body, Robin assumed that one could use Kenbunshoku to predict the movements of another Kenbunshoku.

* * *

Luffy heard a gasp of pain and turned to see something like acid on Robin. Steam rose from her body and he swore he could see her body sinking under the poison.

"ROBIN!"

Rocketing towards her, his flight was cut short by the snake tail that wrapped around his body.

"Sso ssorry about that, but I think that woman ssaid ssomething about taking Marigold on? A foolissh move."

The tail squeezed him tighter and he felt like he was being crushed, despite being made out of rubber.

"Let go!" Luffy's skin was beginning to turn white as he bit down into the tail.

A scream of pain erupted from the anaconda woman and Luffy rushed over to where Robin was standing.

"Don't worry, Luffy. I'm alright." A small smile was pointed in his direction as Robin showed Luffy her arm.

Luckily, none of the poison hit the small strap that connected the Kujan top that she had stolen, but a flurry of violet petals flew off of Robin's arm and showed that her arm was fine. Luffy briefly wondered how she didn't heal the scars that were still on her arm.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Luffy was prepared to berate Robin for getting hit until he sensed something coming at him at high speed.

* * *

Grabbing Robin, Luffy jumped away from where Marigold had slammed the blade of the halberd into the ground.

The rubberman then rushed the anaconda woman, trying to hit her with his "Gattling Gun", but his fists just seemed to miss the woman as she swayed from side to side.

"Gr! You're really beginning to piss me off!"

An epiphany struck Luffy. He stopped trying to hit her and instead, closed his eyes and began to focus.

He needed to use instinct if he wanted to fight her. If only he could use that haki/mantra to know where she was going to be after she mo-

The side of his face was struck by Sandersonia's tail tip.

Roaring, Luffy's fist shot out and impacted with the woman's stomach, causing some spittle to fly from her mouth and her body sliding across the ground.

"What a brutal beast!" "How dare he do that to Lady Sandersonia!"

"Shut up!" Luffy growled out at the crowd, causing most of them to cease their noises.

* * *

Robin continued to dodge the blade of Marigold by less than an inch, infuriating the snake woman.

Even her venom was useless against the woman! Marigold didn't worry too much, as the female intruder had not even attacked yet.

Suddenly, Robin took up an aggressive looking stance, which caused Marigold to put one hand over the other in preparation to block the attack with Busoshoku.

The intruder's arms turned black and she rushed toward the snake woman, arm cocked back to hit her.

Marigold let a little snicker slide past her lips as she saw Robin about to punch the air. She missed the smirk that adorned Robin's face.

An enormous black arm sprouted from the stadium floor in a flurry of rose petals! The surprised Marigold almost crumpled under the force of the gigantic fist that even towered over her!

"You! You're a Devil Fruit user! That's how you recovered from my venom!"

"Fufufufufu...it seems that my secret is now known."

Robin's face looked malicious to Marigold as she showed off a vicious, but small smile.

"But I wonder? Will knowing that I'm a Devil Fruit user help you?" Robin glared a little at the snake woman.

Marigold was about to lunge forward and impale this impudent little...

"Shut up, you moron!" Luffy yelled out in the background and the two turned to see what it was about.

The crowd started to cry as they saw Hancock slump in her chair.

Robin let loose a small giggle, knowing that Luffy calling anyone a moron was hilarious.

"How dare your man insult my sister like that!" Marigold hissed and slithered over to the black haired lady.

The historian payed no mind, and didn't correct the woman on her mistake as she kept giggling. Luffy was currently giving a beat down to Sandersonia.

Robin raised her hand and caught the halberd in between her thumb and hand. The blade shattered in her grasp.

"I'm sorry. You were saying?"

The two were interrupted from their fight as they heard Luffy begin to roar.

* * *

"Stop it! What are you doing?!" Luffy's eyes widened as he saw Sandersonia pick up the petrified Margaret. She held the woman loosely as if she was going to let go any second.

"What will happen if she breaks?! I owe my life to her!"

"If sshe breakss? Well...I'll feel ssorry for her, but that iss her punisshment."

Sandersonia let Marigold drop closer to the ground, making Luffy flinch in surprise. He grit his teeth and started growling.

"Don't screw around! This is a fight between you and me!"

"Fight?" Sandersonia looking genuinely surprised, "You're the only one that thinkss thiss iss a fight! Thiss iss your execution!"

"Be quiet and watch!" Marigold said from afar, "That is nothing compared to the wounds on my sister's heart!"

Luffy thought of how Hancock looked when he had insulted her.

Wounds?! What wounds?! They're playing with Margaret's life!

"She looked up to you!"

"So does everyone else on this island!" Sandersonia said slowly to the now panicking Luffy.

Her tail suddenly dropped and Margaret dived towards the ground.

"I told you...!" Luffy shouted out as his devil fully manifested.

"...TO STOP!"

* * *

A pressure weighed heavily down on everyone present. The only one unaffected was Robin, and to a degree, Hancock.

Foam came from some of the audience's mouths, but most of them stayed awake.

Everyone affected was frozen in fear and Luffy became the most frightening thing in their lives! This was Haoshoku, but it was different than Hebihime's!

Sandersonia was the one affected the most. She shook violently and slowly lowered Margaret to the ground, making sure she wasn't damaged in the slightest.

"Oh?! You finally listened to me?! Thank you!" The pressure disappeared and Luffy walked towards the the woman.

He returned to normal.

It still didn't stop Sandersonia from bowing her head completely and cowering away from the rubberman as he inspected Margaret for any damage.

* * *

Robin noticed that the snake woman had obeyed Luffy. Was this an effect of Haoshoku?

"T-The only..one..I know with...that ability is...Sister!" Robin glanced over at Marigold who was shivering almost as violently as Sandersonia.

"You guys are strong!" Luffy whispered as steam burst from his skin.

"So I'll go full out now!" His whisper turned into a shout and he rocketed towards Sandersonia, who flinch heavily and cried out for her sister's help.

Robin wondered if she should stop Luffy from annihilating the two snakes, but decided against it.

She felt that they deserved whatever he would dish out upon them.

* * *

Robin was now sitting as comfortably as she could next to the stone statues that Luffy had put in the middle of the arena. The rest of the arena was demolished.

Luffy...had been true to his word. He had not gone easy on the women, but when the snake ladies tried to fight back, something had gone wrong for them.

Sandersonia's clothes had been burnt away by an attack that Marigold had tried to use. Marigold tried to stop her attack, but Luffy had tied their tails together.

She smiled a little at the rubberman as he dusted the one known as Margaret off a bit.

He had covered the "Gorgon's Eye" on Sandersonia's back, saying that their secret had nothing to do with their fight. Luffy had remembered Hancock saying that they would rather die than reveal what was on their backs.

"I can certainly undo the petrification...but you mentioned something about wanting a boat, correct?"

Luffy had asked Hancock to undo Margaret's and her friend's situation. It seemed that she had something planned.

"I will only take one of your requests!" Hancock smirked from her throne at the two, "Either change them back, or leave the island! Choose one and abandon the other!"

Robin frowned. How cruel of the woman to do this to them.

Her smile returned. Boa Hancock clearly did not know Luffy.

"Really?! You'll change them back?!" Luffy dropped to his knees and bowed with a smile on his face, not even getting angry that his hat got a little dirty from hitting the ground.

"Thank you!"

The historian took a little delight at seeing the shocked faces of the three Boa sisters.

* * *

Robin now found herself back in the Kuja Castle. She and Luffy sat with Sandersonia and Marigold outside a curtained area.

Sandersonia and Marigold were actually good people, although they were a little harsh in their punishments. Robin couldn't understand why someone would go so far as to kill their family, but she wouldn't judge their ways. It was how they did things for so long, and Margaret had said that she wouldn't have minded dying due to her mistake. She just didn't want her friends to suffer as well.

"...We really need to thank you."

"What? Nah, it's fine." Luffy waved the anaconda woman off.

"It's not like I can eat your gratitude."

He took on a thoughtful expression. With a little effort, Robin was sure he could find a way.

"You may enter, man!"

Luffy looked a little off guard, but jumped up and entered the curtained area. He shouted about having a great feast if they were so thankful.

"Yay! Foo- hey! There's no food!" Luffy paused and Robin shifted a little on the floor as she moved to get up.

"Why are you naked?"

Sandersonia and Marigold glanced at Robin to see if it would affect her in any way that her man was looking at the proclaimed, "Most Beautiful Woman in the World", as she lay bare before him.

Robin wasn't worried about Luffy doing anything to the Empress. Knowing that he was mostly asexual helped her a little.

"You said you know what this symbol meant...where have you seen it?!"

Hancock's voice was a little shaky and Robin noticed that the other two Boa sisters were shaking in what she thought was fear.

Robin already knew what the symbol on Hancock's back was. She surmised it was also on the backs of the two other Boa sisters.

It was the "Hoof of the Dragon". A mark put on Tenryuubito slaves that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. Truly, a cruel practice that the World allowed its "precious" royalty.

A practice that the historian wouldn't mind being eradicated.

"Hm...actually, I was wrong! I thought it looked like something my friend Hatchan had! His is a little different."

Robin remembered the mark that looked like a sun on Hatchan's back. The slave mark was a circly with three triangles above it, following the circumference of the top half and one reversed triangle at the bottom.

How he had mistaken the two marks is a mystery, but Robin didn't care too much about it. Luffy's mind worked in a mysterious way.

* * *

Robin tried to get some sleep, but she was unable to. Today had been...eventful.

After the meeting with Hancock, they had partied with the Kujas. Luffy was able to dance around and joke a bit before eating, but he was unable to eat peacefully as everyone wanted to pull at his face. After watching Luffy yell at the women, Robin tried to help him out, but the Kujas were relentless.

Margaret had helped them escape the Kujas to see an Elder Nyon, an old hermit that lived outside the village. There, Luffy had learned that his brother, Portugas D. Ace, was to be executed. Whitebeard was already sailing towards Marejois, where the execution was to take place.

Elder Nyon told Luffy that he would have to convince Hancock to take him to Impel Down, the prison known as "Hell" to most.

Hancock...

Robin flinched as she recalled the woman now. Earlier, she had been cruel and heartless, appearing more as a tyrant than what she had displayed after Luffy had met with her a second time.

The historian never expected the Empress to fall in love with the rubberman. If she didn't know any better, Robin would have thought that "Hebihime" was wrapped around his finger.

Not to mention the daggers that Hancock had glared her way. Robin had noticed that many people had mentioned that Hancock possessed Haoshoku haki as well, but it was odd that she was unaffected by the ability. It was clear Hancock was attempting to crush her will with it, but the Straw Hat was not only able to negate it, she had never felt Hancock's Haoshoku.

Robin got up from the bed she was provided and went outside for some fresh air. She sensed a familiar presence and thought it would be good to see Luffy before sleeping.

Hopefully, the Empress wouldn't still be trying to get his attention. Robin had giggled when she was able to steal Luffy's attention away from the lovestruck Shichibukai.

* * *

Luffy was doing what he always did at this time of night. He was staring at the moon while time flew by. He was sitting down on the roof of the castle, right next to the patched up hole the two had made earlier.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

Luffy didn't move his head as he spoke. His voice was lacking the exuberant quality it usually held.

"I should be telling you that. Now would be the best time to get the most rest."

Taking a seat next to him, Robin noticed the frown he wore.

The rubberman looked anxious. She could tell his skin was white and some sweat fell from his forehead.

"I...I just can't get any sleep, Robin. Knowing where Ace is...it just doesn't seem right."

"That's not good, Luffy. You know Ace wouldn't like that. Besides, shouldn't you get as much rest as you could so you can be at your strongest?"

"Maybe. But I know that if I sleep now, I'll just see nightmares."

"Hm...would it help if I slept with you?"

"No. I think I might hurt you in my sleep."

"Then that just means I'll stay up here with you."

Luffy looked over to see Robin with her ever present smile on her face. The moonlight reflected off her skin and hair as she stared at him.

"Robin..."

The historian perked up when he began.

"Is...is this alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"To go to save Ace...do you think that's the right choice?"

Robin didn't answer him right away as she evaluated the situation.

Fire Fist Ace is Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander. His strength is on par with an Admiral and the two Straw Hats are attempting to break into the World's most secure prison with many, if not, all of the most dangerous criminals the World Government has captured. Their only help is one of the Shichibukai who is not going to be able to help them that much and could possibly be an enemy later on.

Not to mention that this is going to be all-out war between Whitebeard, the strongest pirate alive, and the World Government, which is going to have all of its strongest assets available to fight back.

Luffy already knew what the answer was, but he was asking her what she thought was right.

"...I think you're making the best decision you can, Luffy."

"Do you really think that?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?"

Luffy had a deadpan expression as he stared blankly at Robin's coy smile.

"Hey, don't be stupid, Robin."

"Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say..."

"I just..." Luffy looked away and buried his head into his arms. He brought his knees up to support his other limbs.

"I just don't know what to do, Robin. My brother is going to get killed, and the guys there...I don't know if I'm strong enough to even fight back..."

He didn't respond to the light touch he felt on his shoulder.

"...And everyone else...how can I just go off and do this? I'm leaving them behind..."

"You're not leaving them behind, Luffy. I'm sure they will understand why you would do this."

Her captain stayed silent for a bit. She scooted towards him until their sides were touching.

"Robin...I think you should stay here."

"That's not going to happen."

"No, just hear me out. Guys like Aokoji and that Smokey guy are going to be there. Maybe...even people like that Pigeon Guy will be there too."

Luffy felt Robin head lean on his shoulder, but he wouldn't surrender now.

"They'll try to capture you...and they might make you do that thing again."

"Don't worry about me, Luffy."

"I can't let you come along if it's going to be that dangerous."

"And you expect me to sit idly by and watch you descend into hell all alone?" Her voice was calm and almost quiet as she stared drifting into unconsciousness.

An arm formed on her back and pressed Luffy's head against hers.

"No...I just want to protect you..."

"I want to protect you too, Luffy..."

The two were silent for a while. They listened to the other's breathing as the wind blew through the moonlit night.

"...So you're staying behind, right?"

Robin shushed him.

"Go to sleep, Luffy. We'll need the rest for tomorrow."

"But..."

Luffy felt weird when she shushed him some more and started playing with his hair. Her fingers moved through his hair along with the wind.

"Rest, Luffy."

Robin listened as Luffy's breathing became slower and more relaxed. Eventually, he started to snore lightly.

She hoped the Empress wouldn't find them like this tomorrow and change her mind about helping them.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!  
**

**God. I am so glad I'm done with that. Drew blanks and this took me hours to write up. Gah, creativity was never my strong point. As always, let me know what you think!**


	26. To Hell

**Hello again, everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all!**

**Tried to do this the best I could, but like my Enies Lobby chapter, I'll change it if everyone doesn't like it. **

**lol Near the end of the chapter, I was just going brain dead. **

**Hope you all enjoy! Let me know if I missed anything!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

The next morning was as eventful as Robin predicted it to be. Hancock had reacted in a way Robin had expected, by looking crestfallen when she found the two Straw Hats sleeping together. The Empress had recovered quickly, using jealousy as a medium, and had attacked Robin, who had avoided the attempts on her life. Luffy stopped Hancock from attacking Robin by yelling at her.

Elder Nyon, who Robin suspected to be a previous Amazon Lily Empress, pulled Hancock aside to speak with her about her "conditon".

Robin had overheard the Empress' condition when she was talking with Elder Nyon. She was in love with Luffy and it had a significant impact on the Kuja, it seemed. The way the elder talked about "love sickness" made it seem like it was fatal if Hancock was not allowed to follow the feelings she held for Luffy.

After they had all met at the docks, the two Straw Hats had to wait for Hebihime to reveal herself. The woman was still getting ready, saying that she had something that could help Luffy get into the prison. The female Straw Hat found her clothes from the Sabody Archipelago and washed them with the help of the Kuja. Now she could move around without that revealing outfit.

Robin wasn't too worried about herself. She had an idea on how to get herself into Impel Down, if Hana was willing to help out.

The woman was watching a baby seal and a puppy playing in the road. They looked so cute as she gave them treats.

"Who was it..." A feminine voice shouted out above Robin's vision.

"...that put this puppy...!" A long leg kicked the puppy into the air.

"...and this baby seal in my way!" Another foot launched the seal into the air.

Robin frowned as she realized who had done that horrible act. Only one woman was capable of being so heartless.

"Hebihime!" The Kujans cried out as their leader made herself known.

"I..I'm sorry, Hebihime! I'll take full responsibility for that!" One of the Kujans grabbed the two animals, who were trying to attack the woman, out of the way.

"Be more careful next time." Hancock warned the woman as she strut towards Luffy, brushing Robin slightly out of the way.

"Sorry about the rush, Snake Lady!" Luffy yelled out louder than necessary, "I want to go as soon as possible!"

Robin noticed Hancock looking away from Luffy's eyes, blushing heavily.

She was already getting a headache from this.

"Luffy!" Margaret began to berate the rubberman from afar, "Please address Hebihime properly!"

"Please..." Everyone's attention was now focused on Hancock as she slowly tried to look at Luffy.

"Please call me...Hancock." Hebihime looked close to fainting, as if she was a schoolgirl professing her love to a boy she liked.

"Hancock." Robin dryly commented from the Empress' side with a small smile.

"NOT YOU!"

"Okay! Got it, Hanmock!" Robin couldn't tell if he messed up on purpose as he usually did.

"...It's Hancock..." Hebihime flashed a smile that sent the surrounding Kujans into blissful cheer.

* * *

After setting out, Hancock had discussed how they should board the Marine ship that would take them to Impel Down. Only she was allowed to go with her pet snake, so she would have to smuggle them on board.

Her suggestion was that Luffy was to cling to her body underneath her clothes and Robin should just drown in the sea.

After revising Hancock's plan, Robin let them know she could hang outside the ship for a while, and then she would be able to get into a room when it was safe.

While Hancock and Luffy were boarding the Marine vessel, Robin had formed an eye on Luffy's body and stealthily formed a seat made from her cloned limbs on the side of the Marine ship.

Hana was put into the eye and Robin was informed when her two accomplices were inside a safe room.

The mimic also informed her how she had freaked Hancock out when she grew out of Luffy's body. It got a small giggle out from the historian.

* * *

Safely arriving inside the ship, Robin watched how Luffy ate all of the Marine's food. Hancock had "coerced" the Marines to give them at least 100 kg of food for 5 times a day.

He devoured the food along with Hancock's pet snake, Salome.

Hancock wanted to feed Luffy a bit, which he allowed. The delusions of marriage that Hancock showed when Luffy took bites from her fork unnerved Robin.

The Marines had gotten a little suspicious once. They had asked if the Empress had someone else with her in the room as they heard Luffy exclaim how delicious the food was.

Robin stifled a giggle when she saw Hancock say exactly what Luffy had said. The rubberman's words embarrassed Hancock, but Robin admired how she had put aside her colossal pride to protect him.

Forming a mouth on Hebihime's back, Robin decided to have some fun of her own.

"I wonder where it all goes after I eat it all...?" Her voice said aloud from Hancock's shoulder.

The historian could tell that the other woman wanted to kill her after she had done the act. Hanock had to convince the Marines that she would talk to herself and her mind would wander sometimes.

* * *

It took 4 and a half days to reach Impel Down. The prison itself was surrounded by many battleships in preparation to fight off Whitebeard if he came for Ace.

There were more battleships around Impel Down than there would be if there was a Buster Call. The sight no longer scared Robin as she had already gotten over her fear after Enies Lobby.

Robin hid under the docks using a clone teleport while Luffy and Hancock walked in through the front gate. Luffy hid under Hebihime's clothes, the Marines were too enamored by Hancock's beauty to even suspect her of anything like smuggling.

The Straw Hat wondered if that was an ability Haoshoku users had. The ability to manipulate people's minds through various means, Hancock's being her beauty.

If Luffy had this kind of ability, Robin knew that his was the fear he put into people. He had a way of overwhelming people with terror.

* * *

Hancock petrified the Surveillance Den Den Mushi and the Vice-Head Jailer when she was informed that she would have to be strip searched before entering the main prison area. Luckily, she was given a room for privacy so she was alone with the now stoned Jailer.

She let Luffy out of her clothes and he dropped to the floor.

"Hey, Hanmock! Robin told me to open your cloak a bit more."

Confused, Hancock obeyed and lifted the cloak a little more and looked over her shoulder.

A pair of eyes was in the middle of the slave mark on her back. They looked back at her.

"Stop fooling around!" Hebihime shouted/whispered at the blue eyes on her back.

She wasn't prepared for Robin to grow from out of her body. It was a surreal experience as the woman sprouted out and landed on her feet.

"I thought you would appreciate the "Gorgon's Eyes" reference." Robin gave her a smile and closed her eyes. She reopened them to reveal brown instead of blue.

"Luffy...it looks like this is as far as I can take you..." Hancock turned back towards the rubberman and Robin could see her eyes water.

"I wanted to be of more help to you..."

"Don't worry about it!" Luffy grinned widely at the woman, "If we were on our own, I don't know if we would have made it this far!"

"Luffy..." Hancock looked misty eyed as she grabbed Luffy's hands, "This is a place that's meant to keep people in! Whatever you do, please...don't get caught!"

Robin appreciated the concern the woman showed for her too.

"You're strong...but please promise me that you won't run wild!"

"Alright, I got it!" Luffy clasped the woman's silky white hand in his own, "It's a promise! I'll never forget this debt! I'll be sure to pay you back again someday, Hancock! Thank you!"

The other Straw Hat saw Hancock swoon and fall to her knees.

Luffy had called her Hanmock on purpose.

"Now I can die...with no regrets." Hancock whispered from her position on the ground.

"Hey, you can turn them back to normal now. Me and Robin are already in the vent."

* * *

The trip through the vents was mostly uneventful. Luffy had given Hancock a secret thumbs-up when she passed by, making the woman faint. That was slighty amusing for Robin.

Luffy asked if Robin had a moment to talk things over a little. She made sure they wouldn't be interrupted by any Surveillance Den Den Mushi or guards.

"What is it, Luffy?"

"I need you to promise something." Luffy looked more serious than he had a few moments ago. Whatever was on his mind, it was important enough to the rubberman to stop their trek towards Ace.

"As long as it's reasonable..."

"Good. If I tell you to run, I want you to run and hide." Luffy put his hand around Robin's mouth before she could protest.

"You're going to promise me this time, Robin. If we come across an enemy that I know I can't fight...I don't want to risk your life too."

Removing his hand, the historian looked frustrated.

"Am I not your friend? I want to help you, Luffy. Even if I die-"

"No!"

Robin checked their surroundings to see if Luffy's shout had alerted anyone to their presence. Luckily, they were still safe.

"Don't make me order you, Robin! Please...!"

Seeing his face, Robin felt a little hurt. She had never seen the rubberman plead to anyone before.

"Please...just promise me you'll run if I tell you to! Hide and keep yourself safe!" He gave her a small grin.

"And if you're able to get away, you can free Ace too. That way, you're still helping!"

Staring at Luffy's weak grin, the woman couldn't say no to him.

* * *

Making sure they wouldn't be spotted, Robin led Luffy through the halls. She ignored the hoots of some of the prisoners when they passed by them, but the historian noted that Luffy would glare at them, causing them to lose consciousness from the fright they felt.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about anybody messing with her as they walked near the cells.

Unfortunately, despite their stealthiness, some giant, blue, gorilla-like creatures were running towards them from up ahead. A man was being chased and Robin witnessed him get cut in half.

The two Straw Hats started to run away from the monsters, the man's cut halves still running.

The halves came together and the man started to laugh.

"Gyahahahaha! You thought you could cut me?! Idiots!"

The man looked to his side and noticed Luffy and Robin running next to him.

"STRAW HAT?! What are you doing here?!"

"Hm?" Luffy looked over at the man.

The large red nose and the bright blue hair seemed familiar...

Robin knew that this man was Buggy the Clown, a pirate from East Blue. She had seen Luffy beat this man not once, but twice.

"Oh. It's just Buggy." Luffy nonchalantly kept running while he told Robin.

"What do you mean "It's just Buggy."?!" The clown made a funny face as he tried to mock Luffy.

"What are you doing here, Straw Hat?! I never heard that you were captured!" Buggy gave up after he saw that Luffy was no longer paying attention to him.

"I was never captured! I came here because I wanted to!"

Buggy gasped and slowed down, almost getting cut again.

"Don't tell me...! You came here to rescue me...?!"

Robin narrowed her eyes as she saw the pain radiate from Buggy.

Impel Down must have truly broken the clown's spirit if he thought that Luffy would save him of all people.

"Wait a minute...! There's no way in hell that YOU of all people would do that!" He slapped Luffy.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Luffy started screaming at the clown, "I promised Hancock that I wouldn't cause any trouble and you come and bring it to me! Go away and die, Buggy!"

Robin pulled Luffy ahead as one of those blue gorilla-like creature brought its axe upon the two arguing pirates. Buggy was cut in half again, but he just connected his halves again.

"Luffy, I believe it's already too late to hide again. I suggest we change our plans a bit."

"Yeah, you're right...I guess things are already messed up enough..."

Buggy finally noticed the woman.

"What the-?! Who the hell are you?!"

"Does it matter? Thanks to your interference, we cannot go about unnoticed."

The clown almost cowered under the glare the woman gave him. It was freaky and he felt a little scared for some reason.

"Gah! Alright...fine...! We just gotta get through this, right?!"

The three turned to face the approaching gorillas.

Luffy smashed his fist against one of them, sending two of them flying back from the force.

Buggy hit one in the face and staggered it.

Dozens of black arms erupted from a gorilla and twisted their bodies into gruesome shapes.

The gorilla Buggy was fighting tried to chop his head off, but it floated away as Buggy shouted "Bara Bara Emergency Escape."

Luffy and Robin didn't pay too much attention to his fight.

The rubberman's arms beat against two of the gorillas with speed that was more than extraordinary. His arms little more than blurs as it smashed the two into the ground.

One of the gorillas was bent backwards and the other was twisted so much that it would probably never walk again. Robin just smirked at how much stronger she had gotten.

* * *

"Aerial Tailspin Big Circus!"

The gorilla slammed into the ground due to Buggy's attack with him laughing at his fallen opponent.

He started to choke when he saw that the monster was alright and it started charging at him.

A figure appeared in front of the gorilla and smashed a fist into its stomach.

Buggy could only sputter when he realized that it was Luffy who had saved him.

"Jeez, these things are tough! What kind of animal are they?"

"They're the martial artists of the sea!" Recollecting himself, Buggy began to explain, "They're Blue Gorillas, or "Blugori"! Just be careful because there are still 4 mor-"

"What the hell?!" The clown finally noticed the 4 defeated Blugori that Luffy and Robin had taken care of.

"I..I see that you've gotten a little stronger, Straw Hat..."

* * *

The Straw Hats took a little break as they watched Buggy strap one of the Blugori's axes to his back.

"So...you want to get to the lower levels to save your brother, Ace?" Buggy asked as he secured the weapon to his body.

They had told him why they were there. He had looked a little disappointed when he learned he was not the reason why they were there.

"Yeah! He's on level 5?"

"How should I know?! I just want to get out of here!"

Buggy walked away.

"Later. If you're not escaping with me, then I'll go off on my own!"

Luffy looked a little upset, but calmed down a bit when Robin put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Luffy. I'm sure if we look around, we'll get down to it eventually."

"With, or without help." She sent another glare at Buggy which he tried to return. The clown suddenly noticed the armband Luffy was wearing.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" The split man grabbed onto Luffy, alerting everyone in the general vicinity to their location.

"I think I heard some voices this way!" Robin heard what sounded like guards approaching.

"Hey! Why are you shouting?!" Luffy tried to push Buggy off, but he was staring intently at the armband.

"H-Hey! This armband is amazing! Give it to me!"

"What's with you all of a sudden?! I got this from Nami!"

Robin grabbed Luffy's arm and started running when she sensed guards coming closer. She could see their uniforms as they bared arms against the Devil Fruit eaters.

"I can show you how to get where Ace is!"

The two Straw Hats looked at Buggy. He was floating in the air and grinning widely, even as bullets passed through his body.

"Really?! You'll do that for us?!" Luffy asked happily.

"Only if you give me that armband!"

"Sure! You can have it! Just show us the way!"

"Alright!" Buggy had gained a bit more confidence, "Grab my feet, Straw Hat! I'll show you the way to Level 2!"

The rubberman picked up Buggy's feet and Robin followed the sprinting Luffy. Buggy flew above them, which Robin had found slightly fascinating.

"Level 2?! I want to go to Level 5!"

"I assume he means we have to go through Levels 2 through 4 first before reaching Level 5." Robin quickly explained as she diverted the aim of a few guards with some of her Hana Hanas.

"Ah, I get it."

"But...!" The clown announced from his flying form.

"I've heard that there is another level below Level 5 where they keep the people they want erased from the world! Monsters beyond imagining lie down there forgotten! I myself, was taken to Level 4, the Burning Hell!"

"Really?! That's so cool! Thanks, Buggy! You got nice really quickly!"

"Gyahahahaha! That's because you're giving me the treasure mark for Captain John's treasure- gah!"

Buggy put his hands over his mouth to try to stop his explanation, but was too late.

"Huh? So this armband is like a treasure map?"

Robin giggled as she saw the clown crying.

"Damn it! There's no helping it now!" Buggy took the axe off his back, "I guess I'll have to take that by for-!"

Luffy took the armband off and held it out to Buggy, surprising his two comrades.

"Alright, just take it!"

Buggy didn't seem to notice that he was still flying backwards as Luffy ran forwards. He just stared at Luffy for a while.

Robin sighed and knew that Luffy was just helping Buggy out of naivety.

She would have to teach him to give a promised reward after getting the service he requested.

"Even though you know it's a treasure map...you're still giving it to me?" Buggy looked bewildered.

"Yeah! I just want to save Ace!"

"But...I can just take it and leave..."

"Yeah, I guess! But you said you would show me the way, right?!"

Rivers of tears flew from Buggy's eyes. He seemed shocked that Luffy was trusting a guy like him.

He took the armband away from Luffy and made a determined face for a second.

She didn't like the stupid grin he got after he had the armband.

Buggy wasn't paying any attention to his own flight. He smashed into the wall and cried out in pain.

"Oh?! It's quicker to go through there?! Alright! Here I go!"

Robin laughed as she saw Luffy smash Buggy through the stone wall.

* * *

After following the two through what appeared to be a Guard House, Robin jumped off and flew by the two pirates towards a red forest.

It was really pretty. Aside from the screams of agony and sharp flora all around on the ground.

"This is Level 1, the Crimson Hell! All of the trees and grass here are made of sharp blades that cut and torment its inhabitants!"

Falling through the air, Robin realized that Kenbunshoku might hurt her and Luffy a little. She didn't need to use haki to sense the pain in the air.

"AH! We're falling!" Luffy screamed out as they fell towards the sharpened grass.

"Throw my feet to the ground, Straw Hat!"

"But...you'll get cut up!"

"I can't be cut, remember?! I'm a split man!"

Luffy did as he was told and grabbed Robin. He hung to the back of the clown as they approached the ground.

The clown's feet hit the ground and split in half, but they were fine from the ability Buggy had.

Buggy laughed and continued to fly through the air with Luffy and Robin on his back.

"We're going down from this level, but we don't need a key for the gate! The Wardens prepared an escape route from this level onto the next!"

He ran a bit and the two Straw Hats saw the pain the prisoners were going through. Bodies could be seen covered in blood as some died from blood loss. The survivors wailed in agony as the environment cut them severely.

This was only Level 1. There were 4 or 5 more levels worse than this one.

* * *

"Here we are!" Buggy announced as he stopped in front of the exit.

It was a gigantic pitch-black hole in the ground. Growls could be heard from it and more screaming was heard. The ripping of flesh followed.

"So, this is the entrance to the next level?!"

"Yes! There are countless people down there that wish to come up, but there's no idiot in the world that would want to go down there willing-!"

He was interrupted as Luffy jumped off of his back into the hole. Robin followed him down and they both fell until they disappeared.

Buggy stood there for a second with his mouth still open, attempting to finish his sentence, but was unable to.

* * *

Luffy crashed into the ground while Robin floated down to him with her "Cien Fleur: Wing".

"Well, here we are! Now we just have to find the entrance to Level 3! Buggy! Where is the exi...oh? Where did Buggy go?"

"I believe he stayed up at the top of the hole, Luffy."

"Really?! I thought he said he would show us the way!"

Robin felt a little sympathetic towards her captain. He was too trusting sometimes.

"Luffy..."

She was interrupted when Buggy crashed into the floor next to her.

"Gah! That stupid Blugori! Damn it all!"

"Oh?! Hey, Buggy! Show us the way now!"

"Curse you, Straw Hat! I never meant to come down to Level 2! I was planning on leaving you behind!"

"What?!"

Before Luffy could get more answers from the clown, a strange liquid dripped onto his shoulder.

"Ew! What is this?! It's slimy..." The rubberman had a disgusted face as he tried to wipe the substance off of his shoulder.

The three looked up to see a giant monster perched above them. It had a strange mixture of scales and feathers and resembled a chicken.

A strange monster chicken.

It roared and the three ran away, hoping to lose the monster in the corridors, but it just crashed through stone to get to them.

"What is this thing?!" Luffy dodged a swift peck from the chicken monster.

"It's a Basilisk! It's an abomination that is made when a snake hatches from a chicken's egg!"

Robin thought it was bizarre, but the monster was intriguing in its own way.

"Level 2 is the Beast Hell! Monsters like these are running through the halls, eating anyone unfortunate enough to be caught!"

"A chicken gave birth to THAT?!" Luffy kept running fast, but not faster than Robin.

"Idiot! It's a monster because it's abnormal! They keep things like that down here, but they would eat humans if they were outside!"

The Basilisk gained a burst of speed and almost caught them, but Luffy grabbed Robin and jumped away. Buggy fell to pieces and was able to have his parts avoid getting eaten.

"That's enough running from me!" Luffy set Robin down and bit deeply into his thumb while his skin turned a white.

The monster roared and was going to face the rubberman, but a gigantic black fist slammed into its head and smashed it into the walls behind it. More screaming could be heard and after Luffy removed his fist, he revealed that he had crushed the Basilisk into another Guard House.

"Level 2 Guard Room! Please, respond! Level 2 Guard Room...!" A Den Den Mushi cried out from the ground.

Stealth was out of the question now. Impel Down already knew where they were right now.

* * *

It was quiet, other than the Den Den Mushi for a minute. Luffy was catching his breath and Buggy stood frozen in shock.

Robin noticed some of the prisoners walk up the bars and look at the group.

Cheering erupted from the prisoners. They asked if they could free them, which a slow moving Buggy did after he regained some sense.

"Who was it that defeated the Basilisk?!"

"It was Captain Buggy! We'll never forget this!"

"Thank you, Captain Buggy!"

The clown started to cheer with the prisoners. He was riling them up some more. Robin surmised that he was going to create a prison riot and try to escape in the confusion.

She didn't need to know the man's thoughts. It was just something that she thought a man like him would do.

"Hey! Lets go already!" Luffy grabbed onto Buggy and started to run, "You said you were going to show us the way to Level 5!"

"Stop! Let me go, idiot!" Buggy broke free and glared at Luffy, "I don't know how to get to Level 3! Impel Down is built like a labyrinth! How am I supposed to know where the exit is?!"

"What are you talking about?! Didn't you tell me you knew the way to Level 4?!"

Buggy laughed at Luffy, "Gyahahahaha! I totally lied! I don't know the way! I just wanted the treasure! Now, I'll be whipping up a prison ri-..."

All the prisoners were back in their cells. They had run away for reasons unknown to the three.

"Um..." Buggy turned back to Luffy with a wide grin.

"Alright! I'll show you the way to Level 3!" Sweat dripped down his temples.

The two Straw Hats didn't look too happy and Buggy could feel fear well up inside him when Luffy leveled a glare at him.

"So...you lied?" His voice was a little warped.

"Um..." Buggy was starting to back up.

"If you're having trouble with getting out of here, I can help you out."

A man walked up to the group from his hiding place.

"It's been a while, Str- WHAT THE HELL!? Miss All Sunday?!"

The man had his hair styled like a 3, but it was wilted. He wore glasses and seemed familiar to the rubberman.

"Ah, what a surprise seeing you here, Mr. 3." Robin replied, not looking surprised in the slightest.

"What are you doing here?! I never thought I would see someone like you here!" The man was close to stuttering.

"Huh? Who are you?" Luffy asked with his head tilted to the side. Robin imagined a question mark to form above his head.

The man raised his 3 haircut so that it was clearer.

"Ah! You were on the island with those giant guys! 3!"

"That's Mr. 3! Mr. 3!" The man's high pitch voice cried out. He didn't notice the ominous shadows behind him.

The other 3 noticed however and started running.

"What? Why are you all ru-?" He turned to see a small lion staring at him along with an assortment of other lions and huge scorpions.

One of the smaller lions walked towards Mr. 3 with some drool coming from it's mouth.

"Strawberry Panties?" The lion asked the candle man.

* * *

Mr. 3 ran as fast as he could to catch up with the others, leaving some candle walls to help him escape.

The group used many attacks to keep the monsters back, but it was like a wave of endless teeth, claws, and stingers. The monsters were relentless in their attack as they struggled to catch up with the pirates.

The lions kept saying things, such as "Give us the key!" and "Strawberry Panties!". One of them managed to even distract Luffy by shouting out "Meat!".

"So, you'll help us get to Level 5?!" Luffy smacked a scorpion away and it exploded into millions of smaller scorpions as he looked at Mr. 3.

"Yes! I can help us es- you want to go lower?!" Mr. 3 shot some wax at a lion that got too close and it was trapped against the wall.

Mr. 3 was about to run off, but he stopped and continued following the group.

The stairs that led to Level 1 were connected with the stairs that led to Level 3.

He could use Straw Hat and Miss All Sunday to get to safety!

His thoughts were interrupted when he ran into something like a wall.

Looking up in fear, Mr. 3 realized what they were looking at.

The wall was black, but he could see some purple feathers on its shoulders. A human like face glowered at him.

"I-It's the S-Sphinx..." He muttered softly as he looked up at the gigantic and feathery lion.

The Sphinx growled and got up slowly.

"Somen..." It rumbled out.

"Somen?" Luffy started drooling.

Robin dragged Luffy away when the Sphinx smashed the area they had been standing.

"Ramen!" The beast continued as it looked over at Buggy and Mr. 3.

"Tanmen Yakisoba!" The Sphinx slammed one of its paws next to the two prisoners, sending them flying to the ground.

"Gah! You surprised me!" Luffy growled as he looked back at the feathered lion.

Robin noticed all the other monster had stopped their pursuit. They were terrified of the beast known as the Sphinx.

"Hey! Where are you guys going?!" Luffy saw the two prisoners trying to get away as quietly as they could.

They glanced at each other and realized that they shared a common goal. They clasped hands together and silently vowed to use the two Straw Hats as bait to escape.

* * *

"Bazooka!" Luffy smashed his hands into the Sphinx's head.

The Sphinx roared and Buggy flew away, leaving his new found ally to fend for himself.

"H-Hey! No fair! You guys can get away!"

The Sphinx smashed the candle man into little tiny pieces.

Mr. 3's body slowly melted away.

"Fuhahahaha! My Wax Man fooled you, stupid beast!" The man proclaimed as more wax figures of Mr. 3 rose from the ground.

"It may not be complete without Ms. Goldenweek painting them, but it's more than enough to fool a simple creature like yo-!"

"Hey! Smash that one!" Luffy cried out as he pointed at one of the wax figures near the real Mr. 3. The Sphinx, forgetting that Luffy was an enemy, gladly smashed its paw into the wax figure and sent Mr. 3 flying away.

Mr. 3 slunk away, noticing that Luffy was actually helping him out by telling the beast to smash ones that led away from the candle man. His eyes met Luffy's and the rubberman grinned at him.

Mr. 3, or Galdino, would not forget the favor Luffy had done for him.

Now, hopefully he would be able to escape Luffy's clutches before he defeated the Sphinx.

* * *

"This is Level 3!" A voice resounded throughout Level 2, "There's really loud noises coming from above us! Is everything alright on that floor?! Level 2?! Please respond!"

Robin landed next to Luffy. He was still standing on the Sphinx and telling it to smash more of the Wax Men.

"Robin! You want to join in too?! This is really fun!" Luffy laughed as he pointed towards more of the wax figures and the Sphinx gladly destroyed them.

The historian noted that he had already tamed the beast, to a degree. But, more importantly, she noted the cracks that began to form on the floor.

"No thank you, Luffy. But it seems like we'll be getting to Level 3 sooner than expected..."

"Huh? What do you-?"

The floor underneath the Sphinx cracked and finally collapsed under the force of the feathered lion's blows. Buggy and Mr. 3 screamed as they plummeted along with the Sphinx.

Robin used her wings and watched as Luffy fell, still laughing his head off.

* * *

The Sphinx's landing was accompanied by a screaming clown and candle man. Luffy crashed into the ground headfirst, but bounced back to his feet. Robin landed next to him. The floor was covered with sand.

The thing everyone noticed first was that it was very dry and extremely hot.

"Gah! The floor's like a frying pan! Why is it so hot and quiet?!" Luffy whined loudly as he jumped from one foot to another.

Robin felt a little lucky for wearing high heels. The ball of her feet was getting unpleasant, but the rest of her feet were elevated off the ground.

"Curse you, Straw Hat! You've really done it now!" Buggy was copying Luffy's movements as he screamed, "You've brought me down another level! I never thought I would come here to Level 3, the Starving Hell!"

"Starving Hell?" Robin inquired.

"T-The..prisoners here...are forced to go...without...food and...gah...water..." Mr. 3 looked like he was melting.

"What he's trying to say, is that the heat below us from the Burning Hell is rising up here and making us miserable!" Buggy finished for the candle man. Mr. 3 was recovering slowly and he tried to pick himself up.

Something fell from the sky and landed next to Luffy.

"Oh?! A grilled bird?!" Luffy grabbed the now smoking bird and began to eat.

"They are in position!" Robin heard a voice from around the corner, "Pull the net!"

Looking down, Robin saw a steel net from under the sand.

* * *

It came up almost immediately, capturing all of those within the area.

"What?! A net?!" "Crap! It's got Sea Stone in it!"

Luffy growled and tried biting through the net, finding that he was unable to. The net had too much Sea Stone in it, and he couldn't bite through something that hard.

The Sphinx said nothing as he was unconscious from its fall. Its body was crushing the others in the net.

"We have captured Straw Hat Luffy and his group! Prepare the Sea Stone handcuffs!" Prison guards and Blugori surrounded the net.

Robin stood alone underneath the net, being able to escape at the last second.

"You should really give up now, you know." A small man stepped forward, "Worse things would await you if you continue your path."

"Hm? Who are you?" Luffy took a break as he noticed the little man.

"My name is Saldeath. I am the commander of the Blugori."

"Resistance if futile. You're lucky to have been stopped here. The 4 beast guards are one level below us."

Buggy groaned.

"He's right! I would really hate to run into them or the Chief Warden! This is the end!"

"No! We can't give up here! We still need to save Ace!"

"But it's impossible!" Mr. 3 joined Buggy in his despair, "There's nothing we can do! There's just too many of them!"

"You underestimate me." The two hopeless pirates looked down at Robin.

"If it's a battle of numbers, I won't lose!"

She crossed her arms and rose petals floated through the air.

"Hurry! That's Nico Robin! She has the Hana Hana Fruit, so secure her quickly!"

The Blugori rushed forward from all sides, intending on subduing the "Devil Child".

They were too late. Arms erupted from all of the blue gorillas and started to break them.

Robin felt the draining effects of Sea Stone from when some of them touched her Hana Hanas with Sea Stone.

Her arms turned black and she watched blood fly through the air as her technique now ripped them to shreds.

"Sh-She's too powerful!"

"Call the Chief Warden! She's going to free Straw Hat!"

A deep grumbling came from the net.

"Reimen...!"

The Sphinx had awoken!

"Kata Yakisoba!"

Robin moved away from her position under the net with a clone teleport. Hana reformed next to her.

Saldeath and his soldiers moved away after the assault from Robin. They had to inform the others about this!

They were stopped when arms wrapped around their limbs, halting their movements.

"Oh my, oh my..." Hana had seen them moving and wanted to have a little fun.

"We can't just have you running off now." They shook in fear from the frightening smirk she wore.

The screams they made were music to the mimic's ears. She didn't hear the net break.

* * *

Luffy whooped in joy as he was freed. He saw a wave of Blugori approaching Robin for another assault and he punched them all into a wall with a "Gattling Gun".

The captain looked at Robin and noticed that they were short two pirates.

"Ah?! Where did Buggy and Mr. 3 go?!"

Robin pointed up and Luffy saw the two climbing up the broken net.

"Hey! I thought you two were going to lead us to Ace?!"

"Gyahahahaha! Give my regards to Ace, if you even get to him! We'll have another drink sometime!"

"Fuhahahahaha! Thanks for being our distraction! We'll just take our leave now!"

"Fine! Thanks for taking us this far!" Luffy tried to give them a smile, but it was a little lacking at the betrayal he felt.

Robin thought the two idiots deserved more than Luffy's kindness. Even as the tears of guilt fell from their faces as they themselves realized what they had done wasn't enough.

A roar from behind the two interrupted any further thoughts.

"Crap! I forgot all about that guy!"

The Sphinx's paw almost smashed the two, but Luffy had rocketed away with Robin in his arms.

He had to adjust their flight several times as many of the guards shot at them. Even if he was immune to bullets, Robin was not. He wouldn't allow her to get hurt because of his carelessness.

* * *

Some time had passed, but Luffy was finally able to get them to some stairs.

Sadly, the stairs led up to the upper level.

"This place is really confusing..." Luffy set Robin down. Just in time to dodge some more of the guard's attacks.

Instead of bullets, the two noticed that nets were being fired at them. They assumed that they contained Sea Stone, so they did their best to avoid them.

Unfortunately, the two had been followed by the Sphinx.

Its paw pinned Luffy to the ground and Robin could only stare in shock as its sharp claws started to come down, ready to impale her captain.

"Swan...!"

A man flew into the side of the lion's face, sending it flying away from Luffy.

"...Arabesque!"

Luffy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the man.

"Zoro?!"

Robin knew the name of the attack and there was only one man she knew of that would announce such a thing.

At least he had survived. He was a little more tolerable than most of the other Baroque Works members.

"I'm not Zoro! I'm...!"

The man spun in the air a few more times, and when he had rotated for the 3rd time, he had changed to his true form.

"Oh?! It's Bon-chan! I'm a little disappointed that it's not Zoro, but I'm glad that you survived!"

Luffy and Mr. 2 hugged each other in happiness. Robin gave the two a small smile as she received information from Hana that she had taken care of many of the guards.

They wouldn't be moving for a while. Not after what she had done to them.

The Sphinx roared one final time before Luffy and Mr. 2 beat its head into the ground. The historian took care of the guards that were preparing to fire at them.

* * *

"Miss All Sunday! I would have never thought you would be here! Are you here to bust someone out?!"

The group was running towards where Mr. 2 had claimed was the entrance to Level 4. He told them that he had wanted to see a very special person on the Level 5 and he would gladly show them the way.

"Yes. Since we have met, I have joined Luffy's crew. We're here to free Luffy's brother, who is on Level 5."

"Really?! That's great! We're all headed in the same direction! Let's go together!"

Some Blugori got in their way, but they stood no chance to the combined powers of the 3.

* * *

They had to stop as a new kind of creature stood before them.

It had some snot dripping from its nose and huge lips. The thing was taller than all of them and looked like a cow with horns. It held a mace in one of its hands.

"Oh no!" Mr. 2 started to back up in fear, "It's the Minotarus! One of the 4 Beast Guards of Impel Down!"

"It's a monster that treats people like trash!"

"Monster? Does that mean it has a Devil Fruit power?" Robin wondered aloud.

Before any of them could do anything else, the Minotarus appeared next to Luffy. It smacked Mr. 2 to the side and Luffy saw the okama crash against the bars, screaming in pain as he held his head.

The Minotarus wanted to attack Luffy, but it found itself flying back after Luffy had sent it flying along with his fist. The rubberman roared as he brought the beast back and threw it behind the group. It smashed against one of the cells, but continued flying down the corridor until it was out of view.

"Bon-chan! Are you alright?!"

"Guh...you've really become stronger...Straw-chan..." Mr. 2 slowly picked himself off the floor with Luffy's help.

"Jeez...this is terrible! My makeup is ruined!" The okama felt his face for the damage done to his face, "Cosmetics! I need cosmetics! And two shoes! And some clothes...and a weapon..."

"And some booze, tears, and the Okama Way!" Mr. 2 exclaimed as he regained his composure.

"I want to go down fast." Luffy rubbed his stomach, "I'm thirsty and hungry too..."

Robin said nothing as she examined Luffy's status.

They hadn't been here for long and Luffy was already exhausted. Constant fighting along with the mental stress were slowly wearing him down. She had learned earlier that Kenbunshoku would also let her feel the pain in the area, so she could only assume that Luffy felt much more of it than she did.

A frown formed on her face as her companions resumed their travels.

How much more could her captain take?

Seeing him stumble a bit made her panic a little before he caught himself and continued to run.

She couldn't let him do this...not if it meant killing himself.

Robin would have to tell Luffy what a hypocrite he was. Demanding that he not give her life for him and yet, he would put his life in danger for his loved ones.

* * *

After a short trip, The 3 now stood in front of a wall with a huge window.

"Here it is! The entrance to Level 4, the Burning Hell!"

"Really?! That was easy!" Luffy started to climb.

"Ouch! It's hot!" He claimed, even as he kept going until he stood at the bottom of the window.

Using "Cien Fleur: Wing", Robin was able to get to where he was without touching the wall.

Her feet started to burn and she now understood why it was called "the Burning Hell".

"Level 4 is like a giant kettle!" The okama jumped to her side, "If you descend, the only thing that will await you is a a lake of boiling blood and a sea of fire!"

Screaming could be heard from their side. The 3 turned to see two people they had not expected to see again.

Buggy and Mr 3 ran by the group.

"Was that...?"

They didn't have to wonder what they were running from. Minotarus came bounding towards them, swinging his club wildly.

* * *

The 5 were running as fast as they could. Robin was looking for any way to get down safely, Luffy was trying to make sure that he was between the monster and Robin, and the other 3 were looking for a way to escape their current situation.

The floor seemed to stretch on forever and smoke obscured the rest of the room from view.

"Things were going so well!" Mr. 2 was yelling at the cowardly pirates, "Why did you have to bring him back?!"

"Did you want to come with us after all?" Luffy beamed at them.

"Like hell! We were just trying to get out of here, when all of a sudden, this guy came flying at us!"

Mr. 3 was unable to say anything as he sprinted as fast as he could. His body looked like it was falling apart. Sweat and wax mixed together and he looked to be in great suffering.

"Alright! I have no choice but to use my secret weapon!" Buggy cried out as he turned towards Luffy.

"Hey, Straw Hat! Remember my powerful Buggy Ball that I used to destroy an entire town with?!"

"No." Luffy said as he kept running.

The absolute despair on Buggy's face was amusing to Robin, but she knew what he was talking about. It took more than one Buggy Ball to destroy part of Orange Town, so he was slightly exaggerating its power.

"...Oh...is that...so?" Buggy was slowing down too much. Any more, and he would be caught under the Minotarus' mighty swings.

"Well, you named it after yourself, so you must have a lot of confidence in its power!" Mr. 3 said as fast as he could. He was tired, exhausted, and melting. His day couldn't get much worse.

"That's right!" Buggy sprung to life and matched everyone's pace, "I have managed to condense its form into a smaller version! I call it, the "Muggy Ball"!"

"You changed its name?!"

"Alright!" Buggy floated backwards as he jumped into the air to face Minotarus, "Take this! Muggy Ball!"

A small ball came out of his shoe and approached the giant cow.

A great explosion followed by a chain of smaller shockwaves shook the area.

"He's still conscious?!" The shocked voice of Buggy rang throughout the area. He never seemed to be able to take out any of the enemies!

"Okay! I'll take care of this!" Mr. 2 jumped through the air, rolling forwards towards the cow.

"Hey, 3! Can you use your Wax powers here?!"

"Yes, but it will melt after 3 seconds!" Mr. 3 informed the rubberman.

"Memoir of...!" Mr. 2 slammed a foot into Minotarus' head.

"...That Winter Sky!" He jumped back to his regular position.

Robin cocked a arm back and formed a delicate fist. She swung it forwards.

A gigantic black arm erupted from the ground into the cow's stomach, causing it to hunch over.

"Gum Gum...!" Mr. 3's wax surrounded Luffy's arm as he brought it forwards, solidifying into a harder than steel state.

"...Hammer Rifle!"

The attack drilled into Minotarus' head for a while. After it had stopped, Luffy brought his hand back and the cow fell forwards onto the ground.

"Alright! We did it!" Luffy grabbed Robin and swung the surprised historian through the air.

"Did you see how cool I was?! That was awesome!"

Mr. 3 blushed a little after hearing that Luffy thought the wax rifle was awesome. No one really complimented his abilities...

* * *

The group celebrated a little before noticing something was off.

"Oh my..." Robin knew exactly what was happening.

"Why is the ceiling getting father away?"

"Now that I think about it, it's getting hotter!"

"ARGH! WE'RE FALLING!"

"Oh no! My Muggy Ball must have been too powerful for the floor!"

"What are you talking about?! My punch was the reason why!"

"No! It was my kick!"

"You're all wrong! It was my wax powe-...nevermind..."

A sweat drop rolled down Robin's temple as she remembered how her arm had erupted from the ground.

The sweat didn't come from the heat either.

* * *

It had been a little painful, but Robin was able to haul everyone off the falling floor onto a catwalk. The metal bars had burned her hands, but she didn't have to worry about them leaving marks. Her hands were already scarred from Enies Lobby.

Luffy sniffed the air as soon as they were all on the catwalk. He then transformed and started running off with a trail of drool following him.

Robin started running after him. She had an idea what had caused this sort of reaction.

"Hey?! What are you doing?!" Buggy screamed aloud as he held his hands out towards them.

"If I remember correctly, the kitchen is that way..." Mr. 2 held a hand to his chin.

"Hey! Wait for me! I'm starving too!"

"Wait just a minute! Don't leav-!"

Mr. 3 silenced Buggy and hid the two.

He had to explain to the clown that since the prison knew they were there, all of their powerful fighters would be on this level.

That meant...the Chief Warden, Magellan, would be here as well.

* * *

Robin managed to catch up with her captain. He had thrown any guards he had encountered over the side of the catwalk into the sea of boiling blood.

After catching up with him, he stopped and dodged some sort of purple substance from the ceiling. It sizzled and seemed to eat away at the ground.

Luffy growled, but it sounded...scared?

Robin didn't have time to think when a large man crashed into the catwalk, making a crater where he landed.

The man was taller than Minotarus and towered over the two. He had horns on his head and face paint. A dark coat covered his form and the purple substance leaked from his body.

Overall, the man looked like a demon.

'Oh no...' Hana's voice whispered in Robin's head, 'This is bad...'

"M-M-Magellan!' Mr. 2 had arrived just in time to see the Chief Warden arrive.

"You rats..!" The man's voice had a bellowing quality to it as he glared at them.

"S-Straw-chan! You can't fight him! He's got the power of the Doku Doku Fruit!"

The okama looked close to running away right then and there.

"Doku Doku? Poison?" Luffy said aloud as he stared at the figure in his half transformed state.

The devil inside him felt scared. He didn't need to activate his haki to know the horrible truth.

This man in front of him was much stronger than he was.

'Robin-chan...you need to run. There's no way we can fight him...not as we are now. We'll die if we were to face him at this point.'

'That's not going to happen. I'm not going to leave Luffy here to-'

"Robin, run away."

Staring at her captain in shock, Robin couldn't form words, let alone thoughts.

"What?"

"Robin, you promised. You need to run. Now!" Luffy shouted as quickly as he could. His devil had already started making his heart beat faster, making steam burst from his whitened skin.

"Your breaking into this impenetrable prison has sullied my name as Chief Warden, Straw Hat Luffy!"

Magellan took a few steps forward, making Mr. 2 fall to the ground on his behind. He didn't seem to notice the heat from the floor burn him as he shook in fear.

"Luffy! You won't send me away to fight by yourself!" Robin ignored the warden and focused her attention on the man that made too many memories resurface.

Memories of a kind and gentle giant, her first friend, sacrificing himself so that she could get away flew through her mind. Of watching her mother leave her for a second time.

"There's nothing else we can do! You have to run!" The rubberman was already manifested to his highest level. His abyssal eyes were trained on Magellan so Robin wouldn't see them.

If he looked into her eyes, he wasn't sure if he could even let her go. It was too painful to think of leaving her to fend for herself...!

But...! What else could he do?! This man would kill her! He would kill Robin if he didn't let her run!

"He's right, Miss All Sunday!" Mr. 2 grabbed her arm, "We have to run! There's no other way!"

The okama shrunk a little from the glare the woman gave him. It felt as if she implanted fear into his mind.

It was for a brief second, but he actually felt cold in this Burning Hell.

"None of you will be going anywhere! After I'm done with you, we're all going to have a nice, long chat on how you got in here!" The warden boomed as he took more steps towards the group.

"I'll never tell you!" Luffy warped voice responded, "I won't tell you, even if I die!"

Those words had too much of an impact on Robin. She dashed out of Mr. 2's grip and ran to Luffy.

"Don't...!" She held onto one of his arms and shouted into his ear, "Don't say that! We're going to get away together, Luffy!"

Robin tried to pull him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"Hydra...!" Giant purple serpents emerged from Magellan's back and they looked hungrily at the group.

Grabbing Robin, the rubberman jumped back to avoid the massive serpent crashing into the catwalk. The poison dissolved even the stone that made up the floor.

He landed next to Mr. 2 and positioned Robin in front of him, taking his hat off as he did so.

She wondered what he was doing until he stared into her eyes.

Luffy had a sad smile on his face as he looked back at her.

Robin felt his forehead press against hers.

"See you, Robin..."

A sudden shock went through her body and she felt cold.

She couldn't even move!

The straw hat he set on her head made her lose sight of him for a second, until she was able to just barely lift her head up.

"N...No!' She cried out as she watched Luffy get up and walk towards Magellan.

"Take care of her, Bon-chan."

"You can't...!"

Despite her desire, she could not stand. Mr. 2 looked hesitant, and the tears running down his face showed how much he wanted to stay with him, but he obeyed. He picked up the trembling woman and ran off.

"LUFFY!"

"I'm sorry, Straw-chan!"

"NO! I...!" Tears escaped the woman as it felt like she was reliving a past tragedy.

"I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!" She tried to escape the okama's grip, but he wouldn't let go.

His friend had asked him to take her away, so that she may live.

He would not allow Miss All Sunday to die. That, he vowed to Luffy.

* * *

The rubberman couldn't see them as they left. He could only hear Robin's screaming and Mr. 2's apologies.

It hurt him inside, to be doing this. He wanted to cry too, but...!

The Warden was now covered in a translucent purple coating, and another "Hydra" was on its way towards him.

Dodging to the side, Luffy was about to send a fist flying at him.

"_S-Straw-chan! You can't fight him!"_

Luffy growled and jumped away again from the warden's attacks.

"Chloro Ball!"

The poisonman spat a purple bubble into the air. When it popped, the area was filled with a purple fog that Luffy had jumped into.

His eyes burned! He couldn't stop sneezing! What the hell was this?!

The features of his face disappeared, leaving only his mouth. He still felt the irritation they caused him, but at least he wouldn't be sneezing or crying in the middle of the fight.

Luffy activated his haki. The negative emotions he felt from the prisoners was dulled by his adrenaline.

Magellan was already upon him! He had one of his horns held in his hand and was about to stab him with it!

He fell below the warden's stab. A piece of rubble had tripped him, but he was lucky it was there. The rock above him was melting away from the horn.

The other horn in his hand was coming towards him. Luffy brushed it aside with his sandal and jumped away.

His landing was hard, and the heat made it burn. His eyes and nose were still irritating him, and he couldn't think of any other way to win!

Luffy made up his mind as he felt Magellan land nearby.

"You still don't feel like going quietly?!" The poisonman was approaching him.

Luffy got up and knew he had to do this.

Not only for Ace, but for Robin! For everyone! He would return to his family and everything would be alright!

"I'm...going to save...Ace...!"

Steam burst from his skin with renewed vigor, his devil's way of saying that this is what they could do.

"And we are getting out of here!" Luffy glanced at his white hands as they turned black.

He had come too far to give up! If he gave up here...!

"If you want me to give something up...I'll give these arms up to beat you!"

Luffy formed fists and threw his hands back. Magellan raised an eyebrow, wondering what the rubberman would do next.

It had been quick. Luffy rushed forwards and his fists slammed into Magellan's stomach, causing him to fly away into a burning wall.

Poison coated Luffy's fists and he understood why everyone had been afraid of the poisonman.

The rubberman screamed in pain into the air as it coursed through his body. Gear 2nd hurt his body already when it made his blood boil, but now his technique was making the poison run through his body faster.

* * *

"Let me go!" Robin regained some of her strength and used her Hana Hanas to push Mr. 2 away. She was about to teleport away, but found that Hana didn't want to cooperate with her.

"What do you think you can do?!" The okama got up and shouted into her face. He held onto her shoulders so she wouldn't run off.

"I can he-!"

"You can't do anything!"

Robin sneered at the panicked man.

"How...how do you think I feel?!" Mr. 2 broke down, crying into her arms.

This...she did not expect.

"I want to help Straw-chan as much as I can! But...but there's nothing I can do! I can only help you get away! If we had stayed, we would have no chance at survival!"

"What's the point of surviving...if he dies?!" Tears threatened to escape from her eyes.

Mr. 2 held back some visible sobs. The historian felt a little bad, knowing that the man must have felt the same as her.

"I..I..I...I had to leave a friend behind! I understand what you mean, Miss All-!"

"Don't call me that! That name is from another life..." Robin slumped over and surrendered to the facts.

There would be nothing she could do. Even with her new strength, she wouldn't have to power to fight someone at Magellan's level.

'…It's not impossible to fight that poisonman...'

'...Hana...?'

'We can purge toxins and venoms from our body...but to that degree? I'm not certain. The best thing we can do...is wait to see who wins.'

Robin's eyes widened as she listened to her devil.

'After that...we'll make another plan.'

* * *

Luffy was on his knees from the pain he felt from his arms. Magellan was lifting himself out of the wall with a pained gasp.

"You're much stronger than I thought you would be! I suppose even a cornered rat is fearsome!"

He glanced at the rubberman whose screams had died down to nothing more than pants.

"But my poison was more than enough to rob you of your ability to move!"

Luffy brought one of his hands to his mouth.

This was going to hurt...

"Poison...!" Magellan seemed to be readying another attack. It looked like he was going to spit something at the rubberman.

Luffy bit deeply into his thumbs and tried his best to ignore the pain in his mouth from the poison on his hand.

"Blow-!"

"Gum Gum...!" A massive black fist slammed into Magellan, interrupting his attack. The fist pushed him back into the wall into an even larger crater.

"Gigant...!" Another fist approached the poisonman and crashed into him.

Steam burst from Luffy's skin. Even if it made the poison hurt him more, he needed to finish this! Now!

"Jet Gattling...!"

The wall that Magellan was getting hammered into was crumbling fast. The heat from the wall, mixed in with the pain the poison was causing him, made Luffy stop his barrage after a few seconds.

His skin was a sickly purple shade and he struggled to breathe. The poison was killing him slowly!

"Straw Hat Luffy...!"

Magellan emerged from the wall. His coat was torn quite a bit and blood seeped from his mouth.

At least...he had done some damage...he hadn't gone down without a fight.

"It's time you learned what it truly means to experience hell!" A new poison seemed to leak from Magellan's skin.

It was a crimson red.

"Venom Demon: Hell's Judgement!"

Luffy couldn't move as the red poison washed over him, bringing him to a new level of pain and suffering.

* * *

Robin watched as Mr. 2 replaced himself with the Vice-Warden, Hannyabal.

His plan seemed like a good one. She was convinced by the Hana and the okama that they could still possibly help Luffy.

They could save him. If he really did lose...they could save him.

It was a feeble excuse, she knew, but she also understood why Mr. 2 had told her that.

He was trying to atone for his cowardly actions. The man wanted to save his friend in the only way he thought he could.

Robin could sympathize with the man, but she wouldn't forgive him from taking her away from her captain.

She could see that Buggy and Mr. 3 had been caught by Hannyabal before Mr. 2 replaced himself with the Vice-Warden.

"He's...he's stronger than I expected, that damn Hannyabal!"

"I don't want to be tortured! I'll bite my tongue off! I'm warning you!"

Those two would wish that they had died earlier. Robin still remembered how they abandoned Luffy.

* * *

Magellan looked down at the figure obscured by his red poison. The rubberman still tried to scream, but the Chief Warden had an idea that the man's vocal cords were already melted.

How he was still alive, Magellan didn't know.

"I suppose it's your rubber body that's keeping you alive...but that doesn't sound at all like a Paramecia..."

He picked up his Den Den Mushi as he watched the guards hose Luffy's body off, trying to get the poison off of the catwalk and into the boiling blood lake underneath.

The Chief Warden was informed about the situation of prisoner riots on the upper levels. Saldeath had been critically injured and many of the prisoners were overwhelming the guards.

No matter. He would take care of it.

"Throw him down the central tower to Level 5!" He ordered to his men, "There, he will suffer until he dies!"

Magellan looked back to Luffy, who had opened his mouth. Gurgling noises were the only things he could produce.

"With that level of exposure, there will be no way that he will survive."

* * *

Mr. 2, who was disguised as Hannyabal, only stared at the Den Den Mushi he had taken from the Vice-Warden with a mixture of despair and shock.

He saw Robin disappear out of the corner of his eyes. She must have heard that too.

There was no time to chase after her. He could see the guards and Magellan coming towards him.

Mr. 2 could only hope that he wouldn't die, and that they would all escape from this alive.

* * *

It had taken a while, but Robin was finally able to reach Level 5. Traveling around with all the guards was difficult, but she was more than capable of sneaking past their security.

Her body felt numb when she heard that Luffy had not only been defeated, but that he wouldn't survive his wounds.

That was ridiculous. She knew how strong he was. He wouldn't die from something like this...

Level 5 was the Freezing Hell. There were no guards on this floor and Surveillance Den Den Mushis wouldn't work on this level.

The cold bit at her skin. She had stolen a coat, but even that wasn't enough to hold back the frigid wind. Luffy's straw hat had protected her head very well, and it comforted her somewhat.

But Robin didn't notice the cold. The only thing she felt was numb as she trudged through the snow. Some wolves had tried to attack her, but they were driven away by an unknown force when she had looked at them.

Hana had not said anything since they heard the report. The devil was surprisingly silent as Robin moved past some cages.

The historian didn't know how much time had passed since she arrived on this level. Luffy was sent into this place, but she had no idea where he was. Her Kenbunshoku was weakened by her broken spirit, and she only had a vague idea where he could be.

* * *

After some more time, she finally felt his presence. It was weakening by the second, but it was definitely Luffy's.

His aura radiated agony and despair. Robin rushed to where she felt his presence, and when she laid eyes on him, the numbness faded into sorrow.

Luffy was taking strained gasps for air and his condition was terrible. The floor beneath him appeared to be crumbling. He used to be on a metal trolley, but it was eaten away and was in pieces.

The cage that separated her from him held firm against her black arms. Even Busoshoku wouldn't allow her entry to her captain.

"STRAW-CHAN!" Robin looked over her shoulder to see that Mr. 2 was behind her.

In his hands, he held the keys for Luffy's cage.

"I came to save you! In...the name of friendship!" He was shivering badly. He wore nothing but pants and she imagined that he would have major frostbite from his endeavor through the cold without any clothing.

"Mr. 2..."

"Don't worry, Miss All Sunday!" He panted as he made his way towards the cage, "We'll get him out! The doctors said there was no way to save him, but I know someone who can!"

He unlocked the cage and stared with determination at the historian.

"Emporio Ivankov! The Miracle Worker! If we can get Straw-chan to him, then he'll be alright!"

She didn't miss the desperation he exuded as he explained his plan.

At this point, Robin just had to believe in the okama's words. She would do anything this Ivankov wanted if he could save Luffy's life.

* * *

They entered the cage to see one problem that they already had.

The trolley Luffy had was destroyed. Nothing could be salvaged, and the two would be damned before they dragged the rubberman through the cold.

Robin took some steps towards Luffy.

There was one thing she could do.

'You're really going to do it, aren't you?' Hana asked from inside her mind.

'You won't stop me.'

'I never had any intention to. Just...stay strong, alright?'

The concern was a welcome change to the devil's behavior. Robin knelt next to Luffy.

"Miss A-?!"

"My name is Nico Robin, and you will address me as such." Robin paid him no mind as she tried to see into Luffy's eyes.

He might kill her for what she was about to do.

"I'm picking him up."

"But, if you do that..." Mr. 2 saw that she knew what might happen.

"You're...a stronger person than me, Nico-chan."

Robin didn't say anything else as she picked up Luffy's arm from the ground.

The pain she felt from the poison couldn't compare to the pain she held in her heart.

* * *

Mr. 2 walked ahead of the two, trying to ignore the grunts of pain the woman behind him made.

She didn't scream at all, which was incredible. Only a fool wouldn't see how the poison melted her flesh.

How she was alive was a mystery to him. Purple and red flower petals flew about the historian as she stumbled forward with Luffy on her back.

The rubberman had been unconscious for the trip around the Level. Several times they had been attacked by wolves, but they strayed away from the two Straw Hats and only attacked Mr. 2. Robin had helped defeat them by ripping them to shreds with black hands.

* * *

A prisoner had told them that there was an old abandoned Guard House in the forest, and so they went to find that instead of a Guard House, it was a nest of the ice wolves.

Robin collapsed to her knees and moved Luffy so she held him in her arms. The back of coat she wore had disintegrated, showing that her flesh was slowly mending itself. The very act of hauling Luffy around was eating away at her body.

Mr. 2 fought off the wolves as much as he could, but they were beginning to overwhelm him with their numbers. He looked over to Robin for aid, but saw what she was doing.

She was protecting Luffy with her body. The wolves were approaching the two. Poison or no poison, the wolves were going to devour the two.

Mr. 2 kicked a wolf back, smashing its skull in, and he moved to intercept the wolves.

One of the beasts latched onto his calf and ripped the muscle apart, making him fall to the ground. The other wolves took this opportunity to rip into his body with their teeth.

Arms formed out of his body and pushed wolves off of him. He got up and ran over to the Straw Hats.

Robin formed a wall of arms to fend off the wolves, but they were eating away at the limbs. Mr. 2 could hear the woman stifling her cries of pain.

"Nico-chan! Straw-chan! Hold on! I'm on my way!" Mr. 2 was just about to reach the two when a wolf latched onto his face and began to crush his skull.

Two of the wolves got past Robin's arm wall and rushed the two Straw Hats. The woman pushed Luffy into the ground and tried to cover him as best as she could.

Luffy awoke from the impact and started screaming.

Robin noticed he used his Haoshoku instinctively and the wolves fell to the ground. Mr. 2 removed the jaws of the wolf that had almost killed him from his head and looked at the two.

"What...was...that...?" He managed to whisper before passing out himself from the blood loss he was experiencing.

Robin winced as she felt Luffy try to move, but was only able to twitch in his pain.

It was getting colder, and Robin didn't have much hope that they would survive.

She wanted to do one last thing before they died though.

Mustering enough strength, she was able to inch her face closer to Luffy's.

The historian didn't notice the strange man with the white and orange clothing observing them from afar.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter...I think I'll do it all the way up to the end of the Marineford arc. Meh, maybe. As always, let me know what you think!**


	27. And Back Again

**Hello again, everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all!**

**lol At the end of each chapter, I'm just thankful I finally finished! Now, time to go through and then submit it. **

**I know that I may have made several mistakes. One, might be that Ivankov would never do what I did here because I don't think he would have thought it to be too important, but hey! I've had that planned for a while now...so I'm just going to do it anyway! **

**I'll change what needs to be change, such as informational errors or grammatical ones, but I won't change important events. Well, not too much. This story still follows One Piece, so unfortunately for some, I try my best to follow that line. **

**Hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei, Eiichiro Oda, and whoever else it belongs to.**

* * *

Waking up was unexpected to Robin. She found herself wrapped in bandages and the bed she awoke in was soft.

Was this supposed to be Hell? New clothes were sitting on a chair across from the bed. The room was absent of anyone, but she could hear music and cheering outside the room.

As she left the room with the new clothes, a familiar voice was heard screaming.

"Please! You must save my friend that's been struck with Magellan's poison!" Robin widened her eyes and rushed out, surprising some people that had been nearby.

"There's no way to make an antidote...and he's reaching his limit! Please...! If you save him, I'll do anything...!"

Robin burst into a large area that had a stage against one of the walls and a bar opposite to it. There were many tables filled with people sitting at them with odd clothing. It seemed they wore whatever they wanted, and the historian noted that some people wore little to no clothing.

Mr. 2 was in the middle of the group, the people giving him a wide berth as he bowed towards a very large man who dressed in drag. He wore a Queen's crown with a King's crown atop his head and had bushy purple hair. His height was amazing, being much taller than Robin herself.

"Oh? You're here too, Girl? The large man had a bit of feminine voice. He looked at the two in interest, "It's good that you're here."

Assuming this man was Emporio Ivankov, Robin was prepared to ask the same thing as Mr. 2.

"You're talking about the Straw Hat boy, correct?" He turned back to Mr. 2, who seemed shocked.

"Vi're prisoners here. Do you think vi just help people out of the kindness of our hearts?" The man towered over the two as he crossed his arms.

The idea of getting his help was becoming more impossible for Robin. Ivankov grinned.

"Do you know why...vi treated both of your wounds?" The two weren't aware that they had a reason for treating them until now.

"It's because that Straw Hat boy asked us too! Even as he stood at death's door, he begged us to help his friends!"

Robin hung her head and grit her teeth. Even as he was suffering from his poison, Luffy had asked the Okamas to save them, his friends.

Mr. 2 had his mouth open in shock as he processed the information.

"That's not something you hear very often from someone so close to death!" Robin flinched as she heard Luffy being close to death, "The flower of friendship can bloom, even in prison. If I did nothing, I would be a demon wearing human skin!"

"But, worry not! Vi've already started treating the Straw Hat boy!"

With their spirits lifted somewhat, Robin and Mr. 2 followed Ivankov as he led them to where they were keeping Luffy.

* * *

A monstrous scream of pain erupted from the metal door in front of them. Chains were wrapped around the door, keeping it from opening.

Arms suddenly sprouted from Ivankov's body and everyone, aside from Robin, panicked.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?! IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL "TREATMENT"...?!"

Ivankov didn't seem worried, even if his candies were.

"He's been screaming for 10 hours non-stop. Vi had to put him in that room so he wouldn't hurt anyone while he went through his "healing"."

The reason why the Okama King wasn't too worried about Robin hurting him was the fear he saw in the woman's eyes. They weren't one of rage.

They were that of pain. The woman cared greatly for the Straw Hat boy. Tears could be seen in the corners of her eyes as another cry of pain erupted from the chained off room.

"He's...! He's been screaming like that for 10 hours...?!" Mr. 2 held his head in absolute worry, "Straw-chan!"

Ivankov removed himself from Robin's grip. The woman wouldn't be a threat to him like she was now.

The will in her eyes disappeared as she listened to the non-stop screaming of Luffy.

"His chance of survival...I put it at about 2%!"

He watched the historian slowly walk towards the door with her head hung low. It was a shame, as Iva could tell the woman was hurting badly.

To see someone like this...even affected his heart.

"I used my hormone powers to unlock the latent power in Straw Hat boy's immune system. If he can endure this suffering, then he will survive!"

Iva looked over to see Mr. 2 shake in his despair.

"If you're so worried, you can look inside, if you want."

He saw the Okama run over next to Robin. They both opened the peephole in the door just as a new scream erupted from the rubberman within.

Mr. 2 jumped back and hit the floor and wall several times as he tried to escape the frightful visage.

Robin did nothing as she saw the state her captain was in.

"H-..He's going to d-die..!" Tears flowed from Mr. 2's face like twin waterfalls, "His..body! I-It's be-being torn apart...!" His voice was distorted by the sobs that escaped his throat, "No! He's...al-already dying! You're terrible! Save him! Sa-Save Straw-chan! Undo the ch-"

"SHUT UP!" Iva smacked the Okama away from him, "I'M SAVING HIM RIGHT NOW!"

"Don't make light of his life! Do you understand what it takes to survive when you're fated to die?!"

Mr. 2 stared up at the Okama King with some of his composure regained.

"I'm not a God...! I'm not Buddha...! Man of Miracles?! That was just a name other people gave me!"

"I've never been able to save a fool that relied only on others!" Robin picked her head up slightly, "Countries that were mired in poverty...countries that were on the brink of civil war...I just called forth their will to live!"

"Miracles only come to those who don't give up! Don't underestimate the power of miracles...!"

Iva visibly calmed down after his speech. Mr. 2 looked as though he understood Iva's words.

"Now come. You've been asleep for a while. I suspect your bodies are at their li-"

"He won't die."

Looking back to the historian, he noted the power in her eyes.

"Luffy won't die...he'll survive this!"

The Okama King grinned.

* * *

Ivankov left along with everyone else. Robin stayed behind, saying she didn't want to leave Luffy alone.

His screams resounded through her head, causing immeasurable guilt to well up inside.

She thought that they were supposed to protect each other...

Robin felt useless as she listened to his pain. He choked several times before screaming, and she worried that he would die if no one was there to make sure he wouldn't suffocate on his own blood.

Mr. 2 wasn't far off. She could see inside the room just as well as he could, and his body truly looked as though it was being ripped to shreds. Blood covered the walls and the room looked reminiscent of one of the rooms back at the Facility.

Thinking better of it, Robin needed to be next to him.

To show him that he wasn't alone in this Hell.

* * *

Ivankov watched Mr. 2, or Bon-boy, leave to stand near Luffy's room. He had just informed the Okama that Straw Hat boy wouldn't be able to save his brother.

It was far too late to be thinking of that. He should be thinking more on how to save himself.

But the news that Nico Robin was here as well...that was troublesome.

Dragon had been looking for her for a while...and CP9, the "secret" World Government organization was originally supposed to bring her here. That is, before Straw Hat boy and his crew demolished Enies Lobby.

Was this the reason he had him stay for so long in this prison? It didn't matter much to Ivankov where he stayed. He was only awaiting further orders, so he could leave whenever he wanted.

Hopefully, Nico Robin would be more agreeable to leave to see the Leader of the Revolutionaries.

* * *

Robin had only been in the room briefly with her captain. He didn't seem to recognize her and his devil was already manifested.

Regardless, she held his hand for some time. It must have been her imagination, but she thought that she felt the rubberman's eyes on her and that his screaming had died down a little.

She only hoped that it had an impact on him, but almost as soon as she arrived, she left.

Luffy wouldn't have wanted her to see him like that. It hurt...so much to see him in so much pain, but she would await his return outside.

It wasn't like he was going to die from this. There was no point in worrying too much, as he would return from this.

Those thoughts kept the woman from falling into grief as she remembered how injured he was.

As she arrived outside, she saw not only Mr. 2, but Ivankov as well. The Okama King motioned that he wanted to speak to her alone.

She wondered if there were any problems as she followed the Okama King down the hall for some privacy.

* * *

Mr. 2 stood outside Luffy's room, screaming his name. The other Newkamas had joined him at times, to try to support Luffy as much as they could.

Robin had participated only a little. She wanted to lend her strength, but they were acting like he was going to die and that didn't sit well with the woman.

Her talk with Ivankov was...less than pleasant, but if what he said was true, than they would need all the help they could get.

The historian remembered that she would do anything for Luffy, and if he wanted to save his brother, Robin would do all she could to help as much as possible.

She didn't even have to do much...and it would help them greatly having the Okama King on their side...

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Luffy stopped screaming.

Everyone stayed silent as they waited to see what had become of the Straw Hat captain.

Blood seeped from underneath the door. The amount was enough to seem unreal.

Ivankov looked worriedly at the black haired historian. She was the one that believed the most that Straw Hat boy could live, and he didn't want this to devastate the woman.

She looked unbelieving at the blood. Her eyes were wide and he could see tears fall like streams down her face.

It was unfortunate...Straw Hat boy was really something else. He looked to Inazuma and saw the Newkama's frown deepen.

He had told him of when he saved the 3 from the Freezing Hell. Of what she had done as the two laid in the snow.

It was heartbreaking to see that the woman lost so much in such a small amou-

The door almost flew off its hinges, surprising everyone except for Robin. Many of them jumped back in fear.

A guttural growl was heard from within.

"FOOD!" A warped voice roared from within! The force caused cracks to form in the wall surrounding the door.

"Luffy...!" Robin formed a small smile. She absently wiped the tears away.

"Straw-chan!" Mr. 2's entire face was like a fountain as the emotions flowed through his body.

"H-How can this be?!" Ivankov couldn't believe what was happening!

"It...! It hasn't even been a day yet, and he's already recovered?!"

There were no words that could express Iva's shock. Luffy even surviving Magellan's "Hell's Judgement" was one thing, asking the Okama King to save his friends before himself was another, but to recover in less than a day?!

Iva had never seen such a thing. Luffy was beyond his comprehension.

* * *

30 minutes had passed since Luffy's miraculous recovery and the rubberman had not stopped eating since then. The Newkamas were thankful that Robin seemed to regain her spirit as she used her Hana Hana abilities to transport large amounts of food into the room. Any food that got close to the door was sucked in by some sort of invisible force and devoured almost immediately.

Almost as if she knew how much Luffy would eat, Robin stopped moving the food and the remnants of what was headed to Luffy disappeared into the room.

After some time, Luffy started to emerge.

"What the hell is that?! It doesn't look human!"

"Is he some kind of monster?!"

Luffy looked terrible. His stomach was bloated in a grotesque way, unlike his normal, comical version. His limbs were nothing more than skin and bones and blood caked every surface of his pale skin.

The rubberman grunted and his stomach shrunk. His arms and legs had some sort of bulges going through them and they formed muscles where his former ones had atrophied.

"I'M GOOD!" He shouted into the air with both hands raised.

He let out a large burp and watched the Newkamas raise him into the air, praising his strength.

"He survived Magellan's poison! He recovered from the poison in only 20 hours! What a guy! What a miracle!"

"A miracle..."miracle" doesn't even begin to describe it..." Ivankov muttered as he approached the Straw Hat.

"Straw-chan...!"

Luffy looked over and saw Mr. 2 and Robin standing next to each other. Robin was just giving a small smile and Mr. 2 was spinning in circles while crying.

"Bon-chan! Robin! You're both alright!"

"You idiot! We should be telling you that..." Mr. 2 started to fall, but Robin caught him before he hit the ground.

"Bon-chan! Hey! Hang in there!" Luffy landed on his feet and ran over to his two friends.

"He's just exhausted. It's not because of his wounds." Ivankov told him as he passed by the Okama King.

"Ah! Iva-chan!"

"Eh?! Iva-chan?!" The Newkamas were a bit put off by his casual mannerisms toward their leader.

"We lived! Thanks for saving us, Iva-chan!" Luffy ignored the way the Newkamas glared at him.

"If you want to thank someone...thank these two." He motioned towards his friends.

"They've suffered much while you were healing. Bon-boy stood out here for hours and hours, screaming your name, hoping you would recover! He stood here and suffered alongside you! I can't imagine that not having an effect on pulling you through!"

"And Nico-girl..." Ivankov looked over at Robin. Her eyes were shadowed as she smiled at Luffy.

He hated doing this, but it was necessary. The Okama King never liked tearing apart people who cared so much for each other, but he needed to do this.

"She has given much to you, Straw Hat boy. If it wasn't for her...I doubt you would be here today."

Luffy remembered in his painful haze how Robin had carried him on her back. How painful it was to be covered in the poison and she willingly went through that to bring him here.

Ivankov's words were more true than he would ever know. If not for Robin, he would have never come this far.

"You guys..."

Luffy got on his knees and bowed.

"...Thank you! I'm in your debt!"

The rubberman was a little surprised to find his head getting lifted off the ground by a hand that had sprouted underneath. Robin had walked in front of him, having given Mr. 2 to some Newkamas to handle.

"You're not in my debt, Luffy. We're supposed to protect each other, aren't we?" The woman gave him a large smile.

The Newkamas watched the two Straw Hats embrace with tears in their eyes. What Robin had done in that snowy field was common knowledge to them now, seeing how it was hard to keep information a secret in such a small area.

* * *

"Here is your hat and some clothes. Unfortunately, the clothes you were wearing were destroyed by the poison."

"Ah! Thank you!" Luffy took the offered articles of clothing from the half-orange/half-white robed man and started to dress.

"You'll need to take a few days to rest to fully recover." The man informed him.

"What?! I can't do that! I need to save Ace!" Luffy tried to run towards what he thought was the exit, but everyone was surprised when he fell to the ground.

"Hey! You're still exhausted too!" The Newkamas screamed at him.

Luffy ignored them and took Ace's vivre card out from his hat. It pointed downwards.

"That doesn't matter! Can you guys take care of Bon-chan and Robin while I'm gone?!"

"Luffy, you're not going alone. Not in your condition." Robin informed him as she picked him up.

"Well, it's your life, so you can do what you want with it." Ivankov informed him.

"Hey, Iva-chan?" He ignored the cries of outrage, "Are you going to escape too? Bon-chan came here to rescue you, you know?"

"Is that so?" The Okama King glanced at the comatose Mr. 2, "Mmfufufu...that's pretty cute."

He looked back to Robin to see that she was wearing that same determined look when she proclaimed that Luffy would live.

Emporio Ivankov swung his arm out towards his followers.

"Tell everyone in Newkama land...vi're going to save Ace-boy and then make our escape from Impel Down!"

His followers seemed confused and shocked.

"If you wish to come with me, then make your peace and prepare for battle!"

"Alright!" Luffy moved away from Robin and started running, "Just wait, Ace! I'm coming no-!"

He fell to the ground again and didn't move.

Ivankov rushed over to him and put his hands to the rubberman's neck.

The Okama King's eyes widened.

"His pulse...!"

Everyone stood still at his words.

"...is strong!"

He found arms wrapping around his body, preparing to break him.

"Ah! Don't do that! If you do that, I'll die!"

Robin was confused how he slipped from her grasp and looked at Luffy.

"Not! I won't die from that, Nico-girl!"

Ivankov raised one of his hands and his fingernails became needles.

"Emporio Tension Hormones!" He stabbed the rubberman in his side.

Something seemed to pump into Luffy's body and the rubberman began to rise.

"That's adrenaline! You'll forget about your fatigue for one day!"

Luffy growled as his skin turned white.

"But once the day is up, it'll come back! You don't mind, do you?"

Luffy responded with a warped roar that shook the room.

He was back!

* * *

Robin ran alongside Luffy. Ivankov and Inazuma were close behind.

They were on their way to rescue Ace, and the Newkamas knew where the entrance to Level 6 was.

Ivankov had asked if Robin wanted some adrenaline as well, but she declined. The process didn't look pleasant, and she felt fine.

Having her captain back was more than enough of a push to move on.

Some wolves got in the way, but the group annihilated anything that got in the way. Ivankov had some sort of weird winking ability that would send explosive winks toward the wolves. It was strange, and Robin wondered if he was using haki, but she couldn't let that occupy her mind.

They had a brother to save.

* * *

After getting to the entrance to Level 6, many guards had opposed them. Traps barred their way.

Nothing would stop the group. Traps were useless, guards were obliterated, and they had finally arrived on Level 6.

Only to see a cell stained with blood and a fishman sitting in it.

"No!" Ivankov exclaimed in shock, "This is his cell! This is definitely his cell! We were just one step too late!"

The fishman was staring at the intently. Robin gasped a little as she realized who he was.

"You!" He called out, catching Luffy's attention, "Are you "Straw Hat" Luffy?!"

"Y-Yeah!" Luffy stumbled a bit in his words. He was trying to overcome the feeling of failure.

"They just took the lift a moment ago! They took Ace up the lift!"

"Hey, who are you old-?"

"IF YOU HURRY, YOU CAN STILL SAVE ACE!" The fishman shouted at them.

Luffy looked to the lift to his side and disappeared. He reappeared near the lift.

"The wheel is stuck!" Ivankov had moved almost as quickly to the lift's operating system. He struggled, but he couldn't bring the lift back down.

Luffy looked up into the shaft, but moved back.

A large spiked ball came down and almost smashed him.

"This is bad! Vi can't use the lift!"

"What about the stairs?!" Robin tried to add.

Before they could make their way to the bars, large gates closed down, blocking the entrance to the stairs. The historian could clearly see that it was made of seastone.

Fitting that only the gates to keep the most horrible villains down in Level 6 was made of the hardest substance known to man.

Gas started to flow through the bars.

"Gas?! Is it poison?!" Inazuma looked worried.

"Hey!" One of the prisoners shouted from their cell, "Don't bring your problems down on us!"

"You shut up!" Ivankov shouted back.

"I don't care if it's poison or whatever!" Luffy jumped towards the gas, making Robin reach out for him.

He hit the ground hard. He was snoring.

"So it's sleeping gas?!" Ivankov made his thoughts known as he watched Robin carry him back with her "Cien Fleur: Delphinium", "There's a limit to how reckless you can be, Straw Hat boy!"

Robin saw Inazuma rush forwards, his hands were transformed into scissors and he cut the floor like it was paper. He covered the gates with the cut-up floor and blocked the gas from leaking into the room.

She woke Luffy up by whispering that there was food nearby into his ear. The effect was instantaneous as he shot up from his slumber.

Ivankov explained Inazuma's power to Robin. He figured she was smart enough to realize how powerful it was.

"H-Hey, Crab Guy." Luffy yawned, "I want to go up! If you block the stairs, how are we going to get out of here!"

"There was no other way." Inazuma explained calmly, "If I had done nothing, we would have been put to sleep, and the rescue of your brother would be even more impossible."

Luffy grit his teeth and realized they were trapped on Level 6.

"This is the least vi can do...stop them from gathering more information!" Ivankov had some Surveillance Den Den Mushi in his hands. He had cut Impel Down's eyes from watching their every move as they stayed on Level 6.

"Now, calm down and think about it." Ivankov stood over Luffy's kneeling form, "Ace boy is surely being taken, as vi speak, to Marine Headquarters to await his execution. The only thing vi can do now, is trust that Whitebeard can save Ace boy!"

Ivankov looked deep in thought.

"I respect your feelings, but there is nothing more vi can do. I'll help you escape from this prison, but just leave it to Whi-"

Well then...I'm going to Marine Headquarters!"

His statement shocked the two Newkamas and Robin only closed her eyes and smiled.

"A-A-Are you insane, Straw Hat boy?! There's a limit to how foolish you can be!" The Okama King yelled at Luffy, who just listened.

"This is a war between the strongest powers in the World! Do you really understand how strong Whitebeard is?! Do you really know the strength of the Marine Admirals, the Vice-Admirals, and the Shichibukai are?!"

"How many lives do you think you have?!"

"But...if I do nothing!" Luffy stood up to glare into Iva's eyes, "If I do nothing now, I'll regret it forever!" His face transformed a little and Iva stared into the abyss that Luffy called eyes.

"I'm going!"

Ivankov backed up. Arguing with the rubberman felt very familiar. It felt as if he was arguing with his leader, Dragon, again.

"And you, Nico-girl!" Ivankov turned his attention to the woman, "Are you fine with this?!"

She merely smiled at him and put her hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"I descended into Hell with him, didn't I? Wherever Luffy goes..." He felt the same determination that Luffy had from her.

"I'll follow. There's no where else I would rather be."

The Okama King was stunned by the woman's claim. He had seen her while she traveled through the prison with Luffy, and never had he seen anyone more dedicated to one man before.

"You two...are really something else!"

"What loyalty...!" A new voiced added in. It's lazy tone was way too familiar to those present.

Robin clenched her hands into fists. She knew who it was.

"...I wish that you only showed me the same!" The figure stepped forwards from the cell, revealing his large golden hook. The scar that went across his face was small compared to the smile he wore.

"Miss All Sunday!"

Robin sneered at the man.

"Crocodile!"

* * *

"You! So this is where you were!" Luffy took a step forward. He looked like he wanted to destroy the man where he stood.

"I didn't know there was anything interesting left out in the World, but it seems I was mistaken! A war between the World Government and Whitebeard...!" The man laughed at the situation.

"Kuahahahaha! I never imagined that there would be an opportunity to take the old man's head! I'm interested! I can get us all out of here with my powers!"

"Like hell!" Luffy screamed back.

Robin put a hand on his shoulder, surprising the rubberman.

"He's right...Luffy. With his powers, he can get us out of here..."

"But...!"

"I know." She glared at the man who smiled at her, "I don't like it either, but we can use him."

"I know of a way to keep him on a leash too." Ivankov stepped up to the cage with Inazuma. The scissor man was ready to cut the cage up and release the sandman.

"Ivankov...!"

"It's been a while, Croc boy..."

"Huh? You know him, Iva-chan?"

"A little...back when you could call him a rookie. I know one of his many weaknesses..." Iva looked down on Crocodile, who flinched.

"...You bastard...!" Crocodile muttered hatefully.

Robin didn't know how many weaknesses Ivankov was talking about, but in all the time she had ever worked with the man, she had never seen any other weakness aside from water.

"If he behaves himself, I won't say anything!" Iva was grinned at him.

"Take me as well!"

Luffy turned to see the fishman still staring at them.

"Ace...I've known Ace since he joined the Whitebeard Pirates! He's told me plenty about his little brother! I'm in here because I opposed this war!"

Luffy silently returned the stare the fishman was giving him.

"Please...! I want to save Ace! I want to at least die trying to save him! Not rot in this Hell!"

"Oh...! Here's another big name...!" Ivankov muttered to himself.

"Robin? Do you think we should free him too?" Luffy turned to the one he could trust. He wasn't good with names or faces.

"...Yes. It's alright if we free him."

"Wait! Are you sure?!" Inazuma couldn't just trust someone like that, "We don't know how dangerous he is, or what he's like!"

"Yes, it's fine. Let him out.." Luffy answered. He could feel that the fishman meant what he said.

The rubberman could respect that. He would rather fight and die than do nothing as well.

* * *

Inazuma unlocked the gates and the cuffs on the two prisoners.

Crocodile kept his shit-eating grin up as he strut out. The fishman rubbed his raw wrists as he stepped out.

"Kuahahaha...it's about time I got out of here anyway."

"Well then! We don't have much time, so we'll force our way out of this prison! Hee-haw!" Ivankov started to believe they could really do it with these new additions to their group.

"I won't let you lay a finger on Whitebeard, Crocodile!"

"Then why don't we settle this now?" Crocodile threatened.

"We even have two former Shichibukai to help us out..." Inazuma muttered as he hoped that they made the right choice.

"Two? Who's the other one?"

Robin pointed to the fishman.

"His name is Jinbei, Luffy. He's strong..."

"Oh?! Really?! That's great!" Luffy transformed and grinned.

"Let's get out of here! We have to save Ace!"

* * *

Inazuma cut the ground up to make a spiral staircase leading to the roof of Level 6. At the top, Crocodile turned the floor all the way up to Level 5 into sand with his ability. Robin lifted everyone up out of the room using "Big Tree".

After arriving on Level 5, The Straw Hats and Jinbei ran to the stairs leading to Level 4. The Newkamas had their forces wait on Level 5 for further orders, and Crocodile got some clothes to replace his prison uniform. He quickly caught up with the other group dressed in a suit and a black coat.

"The execution is at 3pm! It's now 10 am, so we still have some time!" Jinbei informed the group.

"So he won't be killed until 3?! We'll save him before then!"

They ran up the steps and encountered a door.

"Hmph. Doors are nothing to me!" Crocodile put his hand to the door.

Before he could disintegrate the door into sand, a large arm flew by him and smashed it off its hinges.

He looked over to see Robin with her arms crossed. The arm that had flown by him was black, signifying it was imbued with Busoshoku haki.

"You...!"

"Doors mean nothing to me as well, Crocodile." Luffy and Jinbei stared at the two, wondering what was up with them.

"I haven't forgotten what you've done to me, Crocodile."

"Really? But I thought we had some good times, Nico Robin." He raised a hand to her face.

A black hand gripped his arm before he was able to do so.

"...Iva-chan doesn't need to be here to keep you in line, Banana." Crocodile sneered at the nickname, but made the mistake of looking at Luffy.

He felt fear course through him when he stared into the hateful eyes of a demonized Luffy.

"...I'm more than enough to kill you!" He shoved Crocodile's arm aside and the two Straw Hats moved by him. Jinbei was looking at Crocodile with some uncertainty, but he entered the room with the other former Shichibukai.

* * *

"This is Level 4!" Guards were blocking their way, "We have the intruders, Monkey D. Luffy and Nico Robin here! With them are the former Shichibukais, Jinbei and Crocodile!"

The guards fired at Crocodile, but the bullets passed through his sand body.

The sandman smirked as he cut them with a "Barchan", a blade of sand that came from his arm. Whoever was cut was reduced to skin and bones, being killed by having the water removed from their bodies.

Luffy jumped into the air and performed a "Gum Gum Rain" on any guard within range. Their bodies were smashed between his fists and the floor.

Robin formed two giant arms and smashed the guards between her hands as she clapped them together.

"Merman Karate:...!" The historian looked over to the fishman to see him with his left hand raised towards the enemies.

"Karakusa Gawara Seiken!" He punched with his right fist.

The guards flinched from his attack, but nothing happened for a while.

Until their bodies flew away, crushed by an invisible force.

"Uwaa! Wha...What was that punch?!" One guard cried out, "W-We..can't fight them!"

"There are 3 Devil Fruit users, and two of them are former Shichibukai!" Another fearful shout erupted from enemy forces.

"Do...Don't falter men! We have to keep them back until reinforcements arrive!"

Though they meant to keep the group back, there was nothing they could do as the 4 pushed through the enemy ranks, demolishing anyone who dared to try and stop them.

* * *

Crocodile disappeared for a bit, saying he needed to do something. He took some keys to the cells away. Jinbei caught his breath at the brief respite they got.

A guard was about to fire at them from his hiding spot, but arms erupted from his body and broke him in half.

They heard cheering from behind them.

Looks like reinforcements arrived, but it wasn't the kind the guards were hoping for.

* * *

"T-This is Level 4! There's another problem!" A nearby fallen Den Den Mushi cried out.

"What's wrong?!" A voice replied.

"This is bad! The Okama King and the revolutionary, Inazuma, along with Mr. 2...! They've appeared with reinforcements!"

"What?!"

"They've appeared with all of the prisoners that were "demoned" away, who have been missing for decades! There's no mistake!"

"What the hell is go-?!"

Luffy's foot smashed the shell of the Den Den Mushi, cutting it off. The snail slivered away as he, his friend, and the prisoners rushed to the stairs leading to Level 3. They freed as many prisoners as they could after they took the Guard Room. They hoped that the extra prisoners would help fuel their escape.

"Straw Hat boy! Don't stop! Vi'll take care of the guys in the back!" Iva's big head shouted out. He had used his "Face Growth Hormones" to make his face grow to gigantic sizes. The Okama King took out a revived Saldeath and his Blugori squad with only one "Hell Wink".

"Keep moving forward! Keep moving up!"

"Got it! Thanks!" Luffy continued running with the freed prisoners and his group. The Okama King and his candies stayed behind to fend off the guards.

"Gah!" A scream of pain came from ahead, "It's the Demon Beast Guards! All three of them!"

The escape group looked up to see that there were enemies up ahead. A woman with a whip stood nearby in very revealing clothing and the three Demon Beast Guards were stopping any prisoner that attempted to get by.

"Ummmmm ~! I can't get enough of those screams!" The woman hugged herself while blushing heavily. She had her tongue out, as if savoring the pain in the air.

The Demon Beast Guards weren't even finishing their enemies off. They were just crippling and tormenting the prisoners and they wailed in agony on the floor.

"Gum...Gum...!" "Merman Karate: Five Thousand Gawara...!"

"Giganto Pistol!" "Seiken!" "Sables!"

The three pirate captains brushed aside the Demon Beast Guards like they were nothing. They flew through the air until they crashed into the ground.

* * *

Now the way was clear! All they had to do was-

"Arousal Manifesto, Red Demon Whip!"

The ground beneath them crumbled as the woman from before destroyed the stone beneath their feet.

Luffy was going to rocket towards her and attack, but he was interrupted and sent flying away.

"Didn't I say to keep going, Straw Hat boy?! Hee-haw!"

A very tall woman sent Luffy flying across the way, and Robin caught him with a net made of her arms.

"Who's that?! She talks just like Iva-chan!"

Robin looked at Luffy and noted that his eyes were drooping a bit.

He was getting tired already. The backlash from the adrenaline that Ivankov gave him were going to keep him bedridden for at least a week.

* * *

"Hurry! The stairs are up ahead!" Inazuma motioned for them to keep running, "I'll open the ga-!"

"THIS IS THE FORTRESS OF HELL! NO MATTER WHO COMES...!"

A large man crashed in front of them, blocking their way.

"...THEY SHALL NOT PASS!"

He swung the naginata he wielded, cutting everyone around him. It had two blades, one on each end, and Robin was surprised he didn't hurt himself.

This man was very skilled. Now she was convinced that he was really the Vice-Warden of Impel Down. Earlier, she saw Mr. 2 defeat the guards around him and easily seduced the man, and she wasn't so sure.

The gate behind him that led to Level 3 opened, and everyone saw a large group of guards with bazookas behind the gates.

"Straw Hat!" The Vice-Warden shouted, "Your acts of piracy are unprecedented! To ensure a bright future for the feeble citizens, I will enforce the penalty in the Warden's place!"

"Move!" Luffy growled out.

"NO WAY!"

* * *

The fight between the two was short. It was obvious to anyone witnessing it happen.

Impel Down was known to have kept the strongest criminals in the World locked up. It would only make sense that they would have the strongest guards available to maintain the safety and peace of the prison.

The Vice-Warden, Hannyabal, was regarded as the strongest of the guards, second only to Magellan.

Luffy stood above the defeated Vice-Warden with blood caked on his hands. The man might have been the strongest guard, but he was no match for Luffy.

The prisoners and Robin watched as Luffy started to walk past the downed man.

"WAIT!"

Hannyabal jumped up and tried to impale Luffy with his naginata, but Luffy sidestepped the slow moving man.

Luffy narrowed his eyebrows and panted loudly.

He hated fighting people like this.

"V-Vice-Warden Hannyabal! Don't do it! You'll die!" The guards cried out.

"You...you bastards..who cause nothing but trouble on the outside...!"

Hannyabal spat out a moderate amount of blood. He was covered in wounds from his fight, and he couldn't even stand.

"Pirates...! And Rebels!"

The Vice-Warden struggled to stand.

"You...?! You want to save your brother...?! The scum of society have no right to say such pretty things!"

The guards only cried as they watched their Vice-Warden stand against such a strong opponent. There was no way he was going to win, so why did he keep standing...?!

"If you get out...people would be too scared to sleep at night...for fear of losing their loved ones!" Hannyabal shouted as he stood fully, getting into an aggressive stance to continue his attack.

"This is the fortress of Hell! Built to shut away the worse criminals and protect the peace for the masses...! If it were broken...then the World would fall into the depths of fear! You won't leave here, Straw Hat Luffy!"

"I'm afraid of losing my brother's life...!" Luffy hunched over and put one hand into the ground.

"So move aside!"

Hannyabal looked at Luffy with disbelieving eyes.

"V...Vice-War...den!" Voice cried out from behind him.

"What...? What's going on?"

He turned to see that his Bazooka Squad was being sucked into a dark substance on the ground. It looked like it was eating them as they sank into it.

"Give it a rest! Talking about "Justice" and "Evil" so easily! In this World, no matter where you look...!"

A booming voice was heard from above.

A black figure landed atop the Vice-Warden's head, smashing into the ground and knocking the man out.

"...THERE IS NO ANSWER, YOU IDIOT!"

* * *

Everyone stayed quiet as they saw this new man lift his foot from the head of Hannyabal. Some other people joined him by his side.

"TEACH!" Jinbei stepped forward, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"No! I guess I should call you...Blackbeard!"

"Zehahahaha! Hey now...that's dangerous! You better lower your fists, Jinbei! You were pretty tight with Ace...but you're barkin up the wrong tree!"

The man known as Blackbeard stood before them with his crew. His shape was unusual.

Instead of looking like a man, he looked more like an amorphous black shape that was only vaguely human. His white eyes were wide with a wide grin on his face.

"You're..Blackbeard?!"

White met black as the man turned his grin forward, at the completely manifested Luffy.

Luffy knew who this man was...he was the one that defeated Ace.

And turned him to the World Government.

"Zehahahaha...I never introduced myself in Jaya, did I, Straw Hat Luffy?!" The man's grin looked like it only widened when he noticed the rubberman.

"I never expected you to be my Squad Captain's, Ace's, brother! Zehaha...do you really think you can stay here? Your brother's execution is going to happen any minute now...! Zehahahaha!"

Dagger-like teeth clenched tightly when the black monster known as Blackbeard laughed at him.

"You're the guy that took out Crocodile over there, weren't you?" He pointed a shapeless finger at the former Shichibukai, who sneered at being reminded of his defeat.

"That's good! I was looking for a spot in the Shichibukai, and you go and clear one for me! All I had to do then, was take your head to the World Government!"

Robin crossed her arms over her chest at the hostility this man claimed he had for her captain.

"But...fate was kind to you! Ace was chasing me for what I had done on Whitebeard's ship! And he was your brother!"

Blackbeard laughed a little more, not noticing that Luffy made fists.

"When he learned, that I was going to kill you, he couldn't run away!"

"Do you understand?! Because he couldn't abandon his younger brother...he was captured! I thank you, Straw Hat! You made my job easier!"

Jinbei noticed that Luffy was shaking, and already knew what was going to happen.

"You should go visit his grave and say thanks! You would have been the dead one, St-"

"THEN..!" Steam burst from Luffy's skin and surprised the ranting pirate.

"...WHY DON'T YOU TRY ME NOW?!" Luffy roared at Blackbeard and disappeared.

Time seemed to stop for Blackbeard as he saw Luffy's now black fist imbed itself into his stomach.

Luffy roared into the man's face before sending him flying backwards. He crashed into the far wall and cracks formed all over from the force.

"Gwah!" "Captain!"

Luffy put his hand on the ground and his legs formed into pumps. They pumped faster and faster until they were nothing but blurs as his limbs turned a shiny black.

"I WON'T LET ACE DIE...!"

* * *

Blackbeard rose from the debris with a another grin. His black body seemed to quiver with anticipation.

"Kurouozu!" He raised a wavering arm and tried to pull Luffy forward.

He was confused for a moment why the rubberman wasn't accelerating towards him, but then he noticed why.

Hands were attached to Luffy's ankles. They sprouted from the ground and kept him from moving forward.

"I won't let you do as you please, Blackbeard." He turned to the source of the voice. It was weird, as if it had more than one voice.

His crew was incapacitated by the black arms that had covered their entire bodies.

Nico Robin stood next to their bodies. Arms and legs seem to sprout on her body and disappear.

Black arms erupted from his chest! Blood and bone flew out of the darkness and covered the ground in front of him.

Just as soon as they appeared, they vanished.

"Oh? So your ability negates others?" Sweat dropped down Blackbeard's face as he realized that the woman had already figured out his ability.

"Let's see how you handle this then."

Black arms continuously erupted from his chest, causing intense pain to the darkness man. He screamed in pain as they ripped his body into pieces!

"Gigant...!" Blackbeard's eyes widened as he saw Luffy appear before his face.

A gigantic black arm was behind Luffy.

"Jet Pistol!"

The wall collapsed around his body. The knuckles on the rubberman's fist dug deeply into the darkness he was composed of.

* * *

Luffy stood in front of the demolished wall. His panting was loud as his body pumped greater amounts of blood through his body.

He knew that Blackbeard wasn't finished yet. He hadn't payed for what he had done.

The man needed to know more pain. He needed to know what it was like to suffer!

Luffy tried to step forward, but a webbed hand grabbed his shoulder.

"Luffy! Stop! You need to think about your priorities right now!"

He endured the glare the white monstrosity gave him.

"What is more important?! Wasting your time and energy on this man?! Or saving your brother?!"

Jinbei relaxed as he felt Luffy's body get cooler. The steam disappeared and Luffy turned and walked away.

Robin teleported next to the fishman. He noted that she was prepared to help him stop Luffy if she needed to.

He ran off, not noticing Robin continue walking towards where Blackbeard laid.

* * *

The man got up just to see the historian reach him.

"I want you to know this, Marshall D. Teach...the reason why we didn't kill you..."

The subharmonics in her voice made her sound as if she was mocking him.

"Was because you weren't worth the time. You hurt my captain, and we're trying to rectify that. I hope you understand that you wouldn't have survived otherwise."

Blackbeard made a loud booming growl and tried to strike her, but she had already disappeared in a flurry of rose petals.

"You bitch...!"

* * *

"Straw Hat boy! Get going! If Magellan gets you with his poison again, you won't survive a second time!"

Luffy looked behind to see many of the prisoners get engulfed in serpentine shaped poison that snaked through the area, capturing any prisoner unlucky enough to be in the area.

"Argh! It's Minotaros!"

A familiar large humanoid cow was smashing his club into the prisoners that were in his way. Luckily, he wasn't near the entrance to Level 3.

"Ehh?! Didn't we beat that guy already?!" Mr. 2 was shocked as he saw that Minotaros was up so soon after being defeated earlier.

"He was revived, of course. That's an Awakened-Zoan Type ability user! Their abnormal resilience is their strong point!" Crocodile explained.

"What?! That's an ability user who ate a Devil Fruit?!"

"If we don't hurry up, those other 3 will wake up and attack us as well."

"Really?!"

"But that's not even the worse part...because the boss of Hell is on his way..."

* * *

Luffy ran up the stairs, Robin appearing at his side.

"STRAW HAT!"

Magellan could be heard, even if he was some distance away.

"I WILL NEVER LET YOU OUT OF HERE!"

Luffy couldn't pay any attention to the unfortunate prisoners that were caught in Magellan's poison.

He had to save Ace, and he wouldn't let his friends get killed. Anyone else was unimportant.

* * *

There were only 4 hours until Ace's execution.

The group was still fleeing from Magellan, who assaulted them with his "Hydra" ability from afar. Anyone hit by it was reduced to quivering masses of pain and suffering, and were left behind.

As they reached the stairs to Level 2, Ivankov stayed behind to delay Magellan. At this rate, they were all going to be caught, and he knew he wouldn't die as long as he was careful.

Inazuma stayed at the top of the stairs, awaiting his friend's arrival.

The animals on Level 2 relentlessly assaulted the prisoners. Many were eaten alive and their screams were carried through the halls.

Luffy almost went beserk, as the sounds reminded him too much of the Facility, but he kept his course. Jinbei was right! He had to save Ace! Not go ballistic in some prison!

When Mr. 2 told Luffy that Ivankov had stayed behind, he wanted to go back. Mr. 2 shouted at Luffy to believe in the Okama King's power, and to keep moving forward.

The rubberman relented and kept running. It was true, he assumed the Okama King to be powerful, but it didn't stop him from worrying.

Many of them noticed that there weren't any prisoners on Level 2. Were they dead, or did someone release them...?

* * *

"This is the end!" "Retreat!"

Buggy and Mr. 3 ran as fast as they could away from the Demon Beast Guards.

Everything was going great! The two had been releasing prisoner on Level 2 and Level 1! They were so close to freedom! The prisoners were so grateful, that they had praised him! Captain Buggy!

And then the Demon Beast Guards rode the lift to where they were and their forces didn't stand a chance!

The 4 beasts tortured and killed anyone that got to close to them.

Buggy and Mr. 3 ran headfirst into a man who was standing in the way.

"Watch where you're going, idiot!" Buggy threw an insult as he picked himself up.

Looking up, he saw who he ran into.

"C-C-C-C-C-Crocodile?!" Buggy cried tears of fear when the former Shichibukai looked down at him.

"B-Boss?! Mr. 3 hadn't expected to ever see Crocodile ever again.

And he never wanted to. The last time the two had met, Crocodile had almost killed him.

"...It's you, Mr. 3. What's a useless piece of trash like you doing here?" Crocodile sneered at the two.

Mr. 3 started crying as he thought that the worst person to ever be freed from this place was set loose.

"Cap...Captain Buggy! The Beast Guards were taken out!" One of the prisoners reported.

"What?!" Buggy looked behind him and saw that Straw Hat Luffy, Nico Robin, and another unexpected person had defeated the monsters.

"Straw Hat?! Wait...is that Jinbei?!" Buggy couldn't believe it! There were two former Shichibukai here?!

"Oh, Buggy! Mr. 3!" Luffy grinned at the two prisoners, "That's great! You two are okay!"

Robin giggled a little as she imagined her captain's words striking the two cowards right in the heart.

"Cap...Captain Buggy! Some perverts and more prisoners have come up from Level 2!" Another prisoner informed him.

"Perverts?! What's going on?!"

"You guys...!" He was suddenly assaulted by a furious storm of kicks. Mr. 2 got caught up in it too, "You guys abandoned us back there! How dare you!"

"Captain Buggy!" The prisoners readied their weapons to attack the weird pervert that was hurting their captain!

"Mr. 1?!" Mr. 3 had stepped away from Mr. 2 as he argued with some of the prisoners.

The fullbody bladed human stared down silently at the candle man.

Mr. 3 shrunk away. Where had these monsters come from?!

"Hydra!"

Everyone looked at the entrance to Level 2 and saw a poisonous serpent coming from it. It devoured a bunch of prisoners, sending them into eternal agony.

"M-Magellan?! What's going on here?!" Buggy cried out in fear as everything was happening. His mind shut down briefly as he was overwhelmed by everything.

* * *

"Damn it! What happened to Iva-chan and the Crab Guy?!" Steam rose from Luffy's skin as he glared at the poisonman.

Robin held him back with Mr. 2.

"Are you crazy?! You'll die if you fight him again!" The Okama was crying. If Emporio Ivankov and Inazuma weren't here, and Magellan was here, that meant only one thing!

Jinbei noticed that Magellan was speaking into a Den Den Mushi. He said something about ships carrying out their orders.

"Hurry, Luffy! We have to get out of here! We've got more than Magellan to worry about now!" The fishman put a hand on Luffy's shoulder in an attempt to get him to move.

"Everyone! Look out! A Hydra is coming!"

The group looked to see the poison serpent already upon them! There was nothing they could do!

Robin was about to move in front of Luffy, to try and shelter him from the poison, but a figure dashed by and rose its hands into the air.

"Candle...!"

A mass of white formed in the man's hands as he brought it down.

"...Wall!"

The wax shot from the man's hands. It converged and built up, and up, until it was tall enough to block the Hydra.

The serpent crashed against the wax, but the poison didn't dissolve the wax. It just spilled to the ground and the poison kept crashing against the wax wall.

"You...You really make me sick with your feelings, Straw Hat! If I'm not careful, I might start thinking of you as a friend!"

Luffy's eyes widened and he grinned once he saw who had blocked the poisonous hydra from consuming them all.

"3!"

Mr. 3 stood in front of the group. His rare moment of bravery made Robin think better of the man.

Perhaps, he was redeemable of his past actions.

* * *

"Go, now!" The candleman cried out, "I can't hold it for that long! I refuse to owe you debts, Straw Hat!"

"Oh?! That's right! You can do that!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Hmph. You really don't know how abilities will react to another..." Crocodile was smirking as he left.

"Everyone! Go and get a ship for us to steal! I'll try to hold him back!" The rubberman got in a fighting stance, "Robin! Go with them! Make sure you get a ship!"

"Alright!" Robin answered, knowing that Luffy had a plan this time.

It was hard to miss how Luffy cornered Mr. 3's escape path.

"Alright, 3! We'll fight together!" Luffy got in front of the candle man.

"W-W-Wait! I have no intention in fighting! I want to run! Run!"

"I've got a favor to ask of you...3!" Luffy told Mr. 3 what he wanted done.

* * *

Mr. 3 used his wax powers to make armor for Luffy while he fought. His abilities were more suited to running away, after all.

"Uwaa..." Luffy cried into the wax fist Mr. 3 had made for him, "You made me look so cool...I'm grateful! Thanks for making me look awesome!"

"Like I care! Just fight already!"

"Straw Hat Luffy...if nothing else, I'll praise your tenacity! I would have never expected you to survive that poison!"

Magellan was already upon them. He stood a few meters away from the group.

"What did you do to Iva-chan and Crab Guy?!" The rubberman demanded.

"Ivankov? I already executed him."

A wax covered fist hit Magellan in the face, making him stumble back a few steps. Luffy's skin colored matched the wax.

"You...!"

A Hydra was launched in retaliation.

"3!" "On it!"

Mr. 3 jumped in front of Luffy and his hand pooled into the ground. Before the Hydra hit them, a candle wall emerged up from the ground and the poison was repelled.

"No matter how many times you try, you will never break my Candle Wall!"

Luffy jumped onto the wall, and sprung off of it towards Magellan.

"Hydra!"

The poisonman sent 3 more Hydras in Luffy's direction. The rubberman dropped to the ground and dodged all of them, getting closer while leaving a arm behind.

Twisting the arm, Luffy sent it flying forwards. Magellan was only barely able to block it.

He didn't expect Luffy to shoot towards his arm with his other hand back.

"Champion Bullet!"

Magellan's body couldn't repel the wax fist as it buried itself into his gut, sending him towards the wall.

The Chief Warden was panting.

"I..don't know if I can use "that" poison again...it might destroy Impel Down..."

Hearing a roar, he saw Luffy charge towards him.

"Don't you remember?! I beat you one time, so what makes you think you'll win now?!"

"I've already forgotten that!" Luffy jumped into the air and threw both arms back.

They slowly turned black, and when they reached the wax gloves, they shined a bit before turning as black as his arms.

"Gum Gum...!"

Magellan cocked a fist back to meet the falling Luffy.

"...Champion Bazooka!"

The poisonman's fist met Luffy's, and a shockwave destroyed the floor Magellan was standing on.

After a brief struggle, Magellan skid back. His arm hung limply and looked broken.

The Chief Warden grit his teeth and tried to glare at the rubberman, but he had disappeared.

Looking down, he found the Straw Hat.

Luffy shrieked into his face and Magellan felt an unknown pressure weigh down on him. He was surprised to notice his poison receding back into his skin.

"Gum Gum..."

The rubberman brought both arms back.

"...Champion Gattling!"

Magellan was propelled back into the wall, sinking deeper and deeper until he disappeared from view.

* * *

Luffy stood in front of the hole gasping for air.

The effects of the adrenaline were running diminishing. He could feel weakness creep up, but he felt like he could still go a few hours with it.

"Fine then!" Magellan's growled from within the hole, "Then I'll carve a new defeat into YOUR VERY SOUL! VENOM DEMON: HELL'S JUDGEMENT!"

A large crimson colored arm shot out from the hole, but Luffy had predicted it. The arm struck some of the other prisoners.

Luffy heard the screams of agony from behind him. He turned to see the that was hit slowly melt onto the floor. Before he died, he touched someone in an attempt to be saved, but the one that he touched also melted into a puddle.

He was hit by this?! Even the floor was corroding from the poison! Luffy felt guilt slowly rise within him when he remembered that Robin had suffered through this poison because of him.

Hearing a roar, he barely dodged another attack by Magellan. The poison grazed one of his gloves and it started to melt in his hands.

"Doru Doru Cancellation!"

Wax flooded over his body and removed the gloves and feet he had received from the candle man.

"We need to go! If we stay here any longer, we'll die!"

Luffy agreed for the first time with Mr. 3. If they stayed here, they would all die.

He only hoped that the others managed to steal a ship.

* * *

Robin and Mr. 2 awaited Luffy's return. Many of the prisoners and Newkamas were becoming anxious.

Jinbei, Crocodile, Mr. 1, and for some reason, Buggy went to go capture a ship and bring it back. Robin suspected that Buggy must have thought he would be safer, but no where was safe.

Mr. 2 was standing on one set of his toes while he had his other leg held high in the air. Robin might have been calm as she waited, but Mr. 2 was a mess.

"Hey! Everyone! Are you there?!" Luffy's voice called from around the corner.

"Straw-chan!" Mr. 2 exclaimed happily! He had survived!

Luffy ran around the corner with Mr. 3. Many of the prisoners they had been with were missing.

A crimson arm smashed into the wall they had just run by.

"We've got to run!"

Everyone was thrown into a frenzy as they saw that Luffy had pissed Magellan off even more.

A hand appeared on the corner of the wall that led into the hall. The crimson face of a demon peaked from behind it.

"Did you get a ship yet?!"

"No! We're still waiting for one!"

"Whaaaat?!"

Smoke rose from the devil's mouth as it kept chasing Luffy's group. They were getting closer and closer to the others.

Something erupted from the floor near the escape party. It was large, and had puffy purple hair.

"Eh?! Iva-chan?!"

"It...it seems vi have made it in time..." Ivankov said, his head still enlarged from his earlier hormone injections. The Okama King groaned and passed out. He held Inazuma in his arms.

"Ah! He passed out from hitting his head on his way up!"

"Iva-san! Inazuma! You're alive! That's great!" Mr. 2 cried tears of happiness.

"Well..." He looked at the historian who spoke for the first time in a while, "...Not for long..."

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

* * *

A prisoner threw a Baby Den Den Mushi towards Luffy, saying it was from Jinbei.

"Huh?! Jinbei?!"

"Luffy-kun...you made it!"

"I'm still here, but not for long! Magellan is right behind us and there a dead end ahead at the docks!"

"Forgive me." Robin thought it was nice that the fishman focused on manners, even in a situation like this, "We've stolen a ship, but we're too far away from you!"

"But don't stop moving! Jump straight into the sea!"

"Get everyone to throw themselves into the ocean! Just leave everything to me!"

Luffy was confused why the fishman would want him to do that, but he didn't argue.

Any friend of Ace's was a friend of his. He could trust Jinbei.

All the other prisoners started panicking even more. They didn't trust Jinbei.

Robin looked around, but she couldn't find Mr. 2. Where had he gone?

"Alright! 3! Help me one more time!"

"W-What?! You want to do what he says?!"

"I trust him! Now, form your largest candle wall!"

Mr. 3 argued, saying that they couldn't trust someone like Jinbei.

"It's alright! He's Ace's friend! I trust him!"

Mr. 3 stared in disbelief at the rubberman. He was just going based off that?!

"To the sea? Do you really think you can just escape so easily?! As soon as you jump into the water, you'll be in the Sea King's nest!" Magellan shouted from within the poison demon.

Luffy started growling loudly and bit deeply into his thumb. He blew as much air as he could into the hand and it grew to a gigantic size.

Weighing his options, Mr. 3 remembered that he still owed a debt to Luffy.

"This is a special service!" The candle man's hair was set aflame as he concentrated more power than he had ever done before.

"Hell's Judgement!" Magellan's demon bellowed and its arm rose to engulf them all in its painful grasp.

"CANDLE...! WALL...!"

The wax stretched and grew to to cover the entire hallway. Mr. 3 sweat from exertion as the demon approached.

"IT'S POINTLESS...!" Magellan himself roared as the demon pushed against the wall with all of its might.

Mr. 3 grunted as the wall almost collapsed, but the wax kept on flowing to repair whatever cracked form in it.

"Straw Hat! Hurry...!" Mr. 3 pleaded as he felt his strength slipping away.

"Gum...Gum...!" Luffy warped voice was strained as the air traveled from his fist into his torso, and then into his foot. He willed himself to have the strength to protect everyone.

The poison demon slammed its fists into the wall, wanting to break it down.

The candle man was putting all of his power into keeping the poisonman away.

"I...I...I can't hold it for much longer!"

"...Gigant...Stamp!" Luffy roared as he brought his black foot forward, the air rushing around the massive limb, and he smashed it against the candle wall.

* * *

Time seemed to slow for everyone there as their fates were all determined if Luffy could push back Magellan.

Luffy roared, and kept roaring! With one final, thundering shout, Luffy put everything he had into his leg.

The demon grunted and cried out as it was pushed back into a far wall down the hall.

"Come on! We have to go!" Luffy grabbed Robin's hand and rushed over to Ivankov's unconscious body.

The poison demon started to eat through the candle wall. Everyone screamed as they saw their doom approaching.

"Iva-chan! Iva-chan! Wake up!" Luffy screamed in fear.

Ivankov groaned as he regained some sense.

"Huh...Straw Hat boy...? What are...-?

"Hurry! Do that move you have! The wink!"

The prisoners now focused on what Luffy was saying, and they started to object. That move would send them flying far out into the ocean! Right into the Sea King's den!"

"Hm? Alright..." One of Ivankov's eyes widened.

"Everyone! Grab onto his face!" Luffy shouted and wrapped Robin in one of his arms. He held tightly to some of Ivankov's hair with Robin. The historian helped people by using her ability to sprout arms from the Okama King and hold onto other prisoners.

"Your plan is pointless! You'll NEVER ESCAPE!" Magellan increased his speed towards the group.

"HELL...!" Ivankov's eye was as wide as it could be.

The demon was already upon them! Its hand was reaching out to consume them all in poisonous agony!

"...WINK...!"

The Newkama winked.

* * *

Everyone was sent flying out of Impel Down's front gates, hanging onto an Newkama with an enlarged face. What appeared to be the hand of Hell made a desperate attempt to catch them, but they were already too far from its infernal grip.

They were about to hit the water! They're last ditch attempt to escape hinged on whatever Jinbei had planned for them!

The two Straw Hats held tightly to one another. If one of them were to fall into the ocean, they at least didn't want to be separated.

Ivankov's head hit not water, but something else. Luffy and Robin were propelled off of the Okama King's head and fell onto the strange surface.

"Oh...?! This is a...!"

The creature they were riding on gave them a smile.

"Oh my...I never would have expected..."

"IT'S A SCHOOL OF WHALE SHARKS!" The entire group shouted out in joy! They were saved!

Many of the prisoners cried as they realized...they were finally free! They had escaped Hell!

Luffy looked over at Robin and grinned widely.

She returned with a small smile.

It felt like forever, but they had done the impossible.

Now, it was time to do something even more outrageous.

* * *

**I know, I know. Robin's major OOC here, but I don't think I've ever written her like she really is. Meh, whatever!  
**

**Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think!**


	28. Marineford (Part 1)

**Hello again, everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all!**

**Yes, I am not dead, just getting busy with everything else. That, and it's getting really tiresome writing things exactly how they are in Canon.  
**

**Some parts of this are almost exactly from Canon, I apologize for that, but I like giving people the feeling that they don't have to read or watch to know what's going on. I haven't shown that as well as I'd like, but I'll do what I can. **

**This is half of the chapter. Thought I'd give you all something to comment on while I finish up.**

**Hope you all enjoy! Let me know if I get something wrong...or something!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Toei and Eiichiro Oda.**

* * *

"NOW WE'RE ALL FREE MEN!"

The prisoners celebrated their new found freedom aboard the ship Jinbe and the others had procured from the Marines. The whale sharks left the prisoners with their ever present grins on their faces, disappearing beneath the sea.

Luffy danced around with Buggy and Mr. 3 for a minute. He had been caught up in the excitement he felt in the air.

Ivankov ordered some of the prisoners to give Inazuma the antidote to Magellan's poison. He had heard that the battleships were carrying the antidote in case the poisonman had hit any of the Marines.

Crocodile and Mr. 1 hung out near the side of the ship, away from the energetic cheers coming from the others.

Looking around, Robin began to worry.

She hadn't seen Mr. 2 since Luffy had first appeared. Was he able to escape, or...?

Needing some answers, Robin looked towards Jinbe, who was steering the ship.

Mr. 2 had spoken to the fishman before he left to take a ship. The historian wished to know what the former Shichibukai had been told.

* * *

"Jinbe-san..." Jinbe looked back from the helm of the ship. The shouting of the prisoners as the ship was rocked by the cannons from the other battleships was heard on the deck.

"What is it?"

"What ever happened to-?"

A nearby explosion forced the woman to cover her head. Jinbe attempted to shield her from any debris.

"You fools!" A Marine's voice boomed across the ocean via loudspeaker, "You will never escape! The Gates of Justice will NEVER open to scum like you!"

The Gates of Justice barred their way. The gigantic, almost invisible like door stood before them.

* * *

Most of the crew started to panic, but Robin noted one important detail.

Jinbe had never faltered. He continued to guide the ship towards the gates, as if he was going to cut straight through it.

"Hey! You stupid fish!" Buggy earned a few more hate points, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"We're going right through it." Undeterred, Jinbe kept his gaze forwards.

"That's it?! We're going to die! How can you stay so calm in a situation like this?!"

More explosions rang out from the ship's hull as the other warships continued to barrage theirs with their cannonballs.

* * *

"First things first!" Luffy shouted above the panic, "We protect the ship!"

He caught a cannonball that was about to hit him and threw it back, scoring a direct hit.

"If you idiots would calm down for a second..." Crocodile scared a few prisoners as he walked towards them, "Isn't this a battleship too?! Why are we not firing?!"

"Alright everyone! Here's the plan! Fire at them with the cannons, you idiots!" Buggy shouted from his position on one of the railings in the back.

"Yes, Captain Buggy!"

* * *

For people like Luffy and Crocodile, defending the ship was too easy. They used their Devil Fruit powers to not only deflect cannonballs, but Luffy reflected them with "Balloon" and "Net". Crocodile used his "Sables" to send the cannonballs back.

Their ship also fired at the Marines. The prisoners on the ship had bounties over 50 thousand and even 100 thousand belli, so each prisoner was much stronger than the average Marine on the other battleships.

The commandeered Marine battleship was doing fine. Their only problem was that the Gates of Justice would never open for them.

* * *

When the group was about to lose hope, the most unexpected happened.

The Gates started to open.

Everyone's feelings changed from panic, into disbelief, and from that, excitement.

They didn't know why they had opened, but they could pass through!

They were free!

"Robin! Do you see that?! The Gates are open!" Luffy cheered near his historian.

Jinbe's eyes were downcast and Robin had a feeling she knew where Mr. 2 was.

"Hey, where's Bon-chan?" Cringing, Robin turned to Luffy.

"He's...not here."

"What?! What do you mean he's not here?!" Luffy gave her a shaky grin and chuckled nervously, "We all got out, didn't we?!"

She could tell that even he started to have his own doubts. The slight tremble in his body and voice were noticeable.

"He was right there!" Luffy pointed at the entrance of Impel Down, the last place any of them had seen the Okama.

"Luffy-kun..." Jinbe looked to the rubberman, "Nico Robin is right. Okama-kun...is not here."

He stared into the dark pits of Luffy without a trace of fear.

"Don't joke around! Where is Bon-chan?!"

"You don't realize it yet?!" Jinbe rose his voice, "Why the Gates have opened, even though we're pirates?! Don't you know what Okama-kun's ability is?!"

Luffy stared disbelieving at the fishman. A hand touched his shoulder and he looked over to see Robin.

"I'm sorry, Luffy. I don't think Mr. 2..."

"NO!"

He slapped her hand away and grabbed Jinbe, forcing him away from the wheel.

"Where is he?! Don't tell me he's back there in that-!"

"Okama-kun is still in that Hell!"

"Don't say that!"

"You have to face the truth, Luffy-kun! No matter how much it hurts, Okama-kun stayed behind so that we may escape!"

Luffy growled loudly at Jinbe.

"Then we're going back!"

"Listen to yourself!" Jinbe pushed Luffy back, "Are you really that confident you'll be able to go back and rescue Okama-kun?! Do you think you can face Magellan again?!"

Luffy grit his teeth and looked at his hands while Jinbe returned to the wheel.

"We left so many behind already! Are you willing to risk your brother's life for Okama-kun's?!"

"How...how dare you...!" Luffy's skin turned back into its normal color and tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.

Jinbe watched as Robin tried to comfort her distraught captain. Letting his feelings get the better of himself, Jinbe decided to ignore the promise he made with Mr. 2.

"Here."

"...What?" Luffy looked at the object Jinbe held out towards him.

It was the Baby Den Den Mushi that the fishman had used to speak to him.

"It's...still connected. Okama-kun used this to speak with me from the docks. If you want, you can use it now, though you don't have long."

Jinbe returned to the wheel.

"After those Gates close...Okama-kun will be lost. This will be your last chance to speak with him..."

Luffy held the snail in his hand as if he was trying to figure out what it was.

It then dawned on him.

Whatever he would say to Mr. 2 through the Baby Den Den Mushi would be his last words to the friend that sacrificed himself twice to save his life.

* * *

Mr. 2, dressed as Magellan, spun on the tips of his toes as he laughed at the Chief Warden. They were standing in the middle of the Gate Control room.

He had done it! Straw-chan and the others could escape!

Now, he could die in peace. Running away from Luffy as he fought Magellan had torn a hole in his soul, but now it was filled. Luffy was alive, and he had repented.

Truly, it was a great day for friendship!

"Gaaaahahahahaha! You were all fooled!" He spun around and around on his toes.

Magellan stood near the entrance with a fearsome glare.

Mr. 2 knew he would not make it out alive. This was it.

This was the end.

"I copied your face back when I also tricked you when I copied that pervy Vice-Warden's appearance! You couldn't even tell the difference!"

Poison leaked from Magellan's body.

"Idiots!"

"Why...you...!"

"BON-CHAN!"

Almost falling on his face, Mr. 2 looked at where he had pocketed the Baby Den Den Mushi.

"Gah! Straw-chan?!"

* * *

"Why did you do that?! You did it again, just like last time!"

Luffy screamed into the Baby Den Den Mushi, and the other prisoners surrounded the rubberman.

They had heard what Mr. 2 had done for them, and some of them couldn't stop the tears that fell from their eyes.

The Okama had stayed behind to save their lives. He had stayed back in that Hell to save their worthless selves.

The snail stayed silent as the one who was on the other line had not picked up.

"Weren't we going to escape together?! You did it! You rescued Iva-chan!"

"Bon boy..." Ivankov stood near the infirmary door as he heard Luffy's words.

The Okama had helped do the impossible. He had helped them escape from the impenetrable fortress known as Hell.

Ivankov had seen some incredible things, but the bonds that Straw Hat Luffy had made...

...Were downright incredible and beyond anything he had ever seen before.

"So why...?! Why did you do that! Why did you have to stay over there?!"

Robin stood nearby and regretted thinking badly of Mr. 2 when he had taken her away from his fight with Magellan.

Mr. 2 had held the same guilt and regret that she did back then. She just didn't realize it at the time.

* * *

"Answer me, Bon-chan!"

Mr. 2 stood in front of all the guards and Magellan with tears and makeup running down his face.

"Bon-chan!" "Bon boy!" "Mr. 2!"

The many voices on the other side of the snail were too much for him! This is why he didn't want Jinbe to do this...!

"Bon-chan...the Gates are closing..."

Straw-chan sounded so defeated on the other end! It hurt! It hurt, damnit!

"...We're going ahead...Bon-chan...!"

"...Thank you!"

* * *

The Baby Den Den Mushi suddenly reared its head back, tears falling from its eyes and its breath becoming hitched in the back of its throat. Despite the agony it appeared to be in, it smiled.

"STRAW-CHAN!"

"Bon-chan!"

"Make sure you save your brother!"

"Hey! They're getting away! Close those Gates, now!"

"I won't let you!" The sounds from the snail sounded like it was flying through the air.

"Memoires of...!"

What sounded like electronic equipment being destroyed from the other end came forth.

"...That Desert Kingdom!"

More than a few eyes widened as they knew the implication of such an attack.

"Straw-chan! I know that you can do it! Surely, if it's you, you can do it!"

The Gates were getting closer to closing completely. Static erupted from the snail.

* * *

Bentham stared at the Baby Den Den Mushi, uncertain if Straw-chan had even heard his last words.

So many things left undone...so many words left unsaid...

"Do you have any last words?!" Magellan roared as venomous serpents rose from his back.

No matter. He would have the chance to do and say all of those things later!

"I...have no regrets!"

Bentham rose both arms in front of his body, making them parallel with one another.

'Even in Hell, the single flower of Friendship blooms.'

His wrists twisted so his hands were pointing straight at the poisonous demon.

'As waves break on the shore, it scatters its petals as mementos.'

His leg raised in the air, prepared to lash forward to pierce his enemy.

Magellan rose a fist and a hydra's head formed.

The second that followed was like an eternity.

'May it one day, bloom again,'

'Okama Way.'

Finishing his internal speech, Mr. 2, otherwise known as Bon Kurei and Bentham, rushed forward to meet his fate.

Regardless if he were to survive or wander the Okama fields, this was not goodbye!

The Hydra came at him with its mouth opened wide to consume him whole.

This was only, "until we meet again"!

* * *

"BON-CHAN!"

The prisoners all shouted around him, but Luffy didn't pay much attention to them.

They had all heard the last words of Mr. 2. He hadn't regretted doing what he did.

And that just made it worse for him.

Luffy stumbled to a nearby wall, Robin quickly following him.

The rubberman couldn't accept it...!

Mr. 2 wouldn't die! Not even if he were to fight Magellan! Not even if he had to face Hell itself!

Because...he was his friend! He was Mr. 2!

Luffy slumped against the wall and held his head in his hands.

"_You have to face the truth, Luffy-kun! No matter how much it hurts, Okama-kun stayed behind so that we may escape!" _

The pain he felt was getting too unbearable!

"_Make sure you save your brother!" _

Robin embraced him as he cried loudly for the friend that had given his life for him.

* * *

Mr. 3 was sitting near Crocodile and Mr. 1. How he had mustered the courage to do so escaped his reasoning.

Crocodile seemed annoyed by his presence and had gotten up to leave.

"...How do you feel about all of this?"

The former Shichibukai looked down at the candle man.

"What was that, trash?"

"I said...how do you feel about all of this? Mr. 2 sacrificing himself for us?"

Mr. 3 continued, not even really believing that he was speaking this way to the man he feared most.

"About that Okama staying behind?" He snorted, "I'm glad someone opened those gates. That's how I feel."

The steps that he made brought out a weird disgust within Mr. 3.

"Is that it...?" The steps stopped, "Just like that?! He dies for us...and you don't even care...!?"

He glared up at Crocodile, meeting the man's unemotional glance.

"...Let me put it this way, so maybe you'll be able to understand." Smoke blew forth from his mouth.

"It's getting harder to trust people, and I just lost one I knew I could depend on. How's that sound?"

Mr. 3 felt drained as he hung his head down. Crocodile taking his leave before the candle man lost all of his strength. Mr. 1 gave the depressed man a look and then followed after his leader.

He had never really talked to Mr. 2 and the times that he had were...unpleasant. But, despite all of that, the man had never actually hurt him without a reason. The guy was even dependable, which was more than he could say of himself.

Mr. 2 had even complimented him for fighting Magellan!

And now...Mr. 3 owed that Okama bastard a debt that he could never repay!

What a situation...! Mr. 3 considered himself unlucky.

Remembering Mr. 2's last words, he steadied his rampaging emotions.

He always repaid his debts and he knew exactly what he could do.

* * *

"Sorry about that...I made your shirt all messy..."

The woman looked down at what she wore. The white shirt that the Newkamas gave her was far beyond saving. Dirt and blood clung to it and she was sure that it would be replaced as soon as possible. The wet marks Luffy had made were almost unnoticeable.

It had been 20 minutes since they left Impel Down behind them.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." She gave him a small smile, "After all, isn't this what family is for?"

"Hey, how long are you all going to be depressed about this?"

Buggy made an appearance from wherever he was hiding. His eyes were red from the tears he had shed for Mr. 2.

In his arms, he held a copious amount of liquor.

"He was a good guy! But now's he's dead. Nothing we can do about it!" The clown chugged one of the bottles in his hands and sighed contentedly.

"We can party! We can even make it Mr. 2's flashy funeral for his valiant sacrif-!"

A fist crashed into his face, sending him to the floor. The man rolled around in pain.

"We don't know that Bon-chan is dead, so don't say that, Fat Nose!" Luffy stood above Buggy with a fist cocked back.

"Who're you calling a "Fat Nose"?!" Buggy rose to his feet and glared at Luffy.

"You! You Big Ugly Stupid Fat Looking Nose!" The rubberman screamed into the clown's face. Tear marks still stained his face, though he hadn't transformed.

Buggy's body started to split and what looked like blood poured from the cuts.

"Straw Hat...! We may have been allies, but don't think I'll go easy on you now!"

Another fist crashed into his face and sent him into the wall. His expression showed that he was unconscious.

Luffy and Robin ignored the cries of the prisoners and walked to the helm.

* * *

The prisoners continued to shout, and the stronger fighters on board tried their best to pretend they didn't exist.

The Marines had called the ship to confirm that the two masterminds behind the escape were Monkey D. Luffy and Buggy the Clown. Apparently, they had information that Buggy had been on Gol D. Roger's pirate ship, so they assumed that the man had been hiding his strength from the World.

Needless to say, Buggy had been downright terrified after he woke up, but after hearing the cheers from the prisoners, he had been convinced that he could become even more powerful and influential through the World by using the escapees, even dreaming up the possibility of taking out Whitebeard himself.

Using his charisma, Buggy convinced the prisoners to not attack the stronger fighters on board. He needed them to still be alive if he wanted to rule the World!

* * *

It was only three hours until the execution of Ace occurred and they were getting closer by the minute.

Luffy grasped Robin's hand tightly and watched as the Gates of Justice leading to Marineford came into view.

This was it. The moment they've all been waiting for.

It was time to save Ace.

* * *

"Tell them! Tell them who your father is!"

The Fleet Admiral's voice rang throughout Marineford and on the Sabody Archipelago. He had set all of this up, just to inspire fear within all of those who ever called themselves "pirates".

All of the Marine's strongest assets were here. More than 100 thousand elite Marines, all the Vice-Admirals, the most superior weaponry they could ever manufacture, 5 Shichibukai, and all 3 Admirals were here.

Whitebeard would have a hell of a time even making it past the front gate.

Ace knelt before the Fleet Admiral. He was chained to the scaffold so he wouldn't be able to move very far. His executioners stood behind him.

And now, the Fleet Admiral would let the World know who they were really dealing with. This wasn't just some punk ass pirate that belonged to the Whitebeard's crew.

"My father is Whitebeard!"

"NO HE ISN'T!"

"We looked for a very long time, and at times, we didn't even believe that "that" man's child even existed! Cipher Pol only had the barest scraps of information, and you became nothing more than a legend after a while!"

"Then, imagine our surprise when we learn who your true parents were!"

The Fleet Admiral took this time to glance in Monkey D. Garp's direction. The man looked away in what he assumed to be shame.

He was disappointed in his friend. All of this time, and he had never told them about Ace. The only saving grace he had was that he had blabbered about his other grandson.

"Your mother, Portugas D. Rouge, managed to hold you in her womb for 20 months! Until, finally, she gave birth to you in South Blue on an island named Batelira! A combination of willpower and her life, managed to bring your wretched life into existence!"

Ace looked down at the floor of the scaffold. His eyes were downcast as the Fleet Admiral made his speech.

"1 year and 3 months had passed since your father died! 1 year, and 3 months since the World's Greatest Villain was executed!"

Lowering the Den Den Mushi, he spoke only to Ace.

"There's no way you didn't know, and there's no escaping it now!"

He heard Ace grit his teeth in rage.

"YOUR FATHER...!" He brought the snail back up to his mouth, practically screaming the words.

"...WAS THE PIRATE KING, GOL D. ROGER!"

A moment passed by as everyone around the World took in this news.

The Fleet Admiral could see the effect it had on the Marines in the area, recognition lighting up in their eyes.

Even the Shichibukai looked interested at this information.

"Now, the World knows who you truly are, boy." The Fleet Admiral turned the snail off and pocketed it.

The World would recognize the Marines power, and everyone would learn that even the mightiest fall before their mi-

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"

He turned to see a Marine running towards him.

"What? What is-?"

'The Gates of Justice! They're opening on their own!"

Sengoku stared in shock at the nameless Marine.

If the Gates were to open, that would mean...!

Sengoku clenched his teeth and took the Den Den Mushi out of his pocket.

He could see some ships approaching from the distance.

Looks like they were in for a tougher time than he thought.

* * *

Luffy's battleship moved as fast as it could on the tri-current that led to Marineford. The Gates were already open, and they could just sail on through. They had felt huge tremors a minute ago, but all seemed well.

* * *

A few moments earlier, Marineford was surrounded by many ships, and one that looked like a white whale was right in the middle of the docks, surrounded by two other black whale ships.

"Why!? Why couldn't you all have just forgotten me!?"

Ace was screaming at the man who stood on the ship in the middle.

The man's name was Whitebeard, or Edward Newgate. Better known as "The Strongest Man in the World".

"It's my own fault that I ended up like this!"

Whitebeard's expression was like a father speaking to a son throwing a tantrum.

"No, as I recall, it was me who told you to go after him, my son." His voice boomed across the battlefield though he had only spoken plainly.

Ace looked at the man incredulously.

"What...!? You...you liar! What the hell are you talking about!? I'm the one ran after him, even when you told me not to!"

Whitebeard didn't respond immediately. Instead, he tilted his head to look at a man with yellow hair and half lidded eyes who stood next to him.

"I told him to go, didn't I, Marco?"

"Indeed! I heard it with my own ears!" The man known as Marco proclaimed.

"Sorry for putting you through this trouble, Ace! I think everyone out here outta know..."

"JUST WHAT HAPPENS TO ANY DAMN FOOL WHO LAYS A FINGER ON OUR CREW!"

The other Whitebeard Pirates joined Marco as they roared at the Marines with everything they had.

Rumbling shook the entire island and everyone stumbled back in surprise.

"We may have greater numbers, and maybe we're stronger than they are..." Sengoku's voice called out from the loudspeakers on the island.

"But we must not take this opponent lightly! It may very well be us that meets our end today for that man...!"

"HAS THE POWER TO DESTROY THE WORLD...!"

Two huge tsunamis arose from the seas around the island, intending on wiping every last Marine off of Marineford.

* * *

"Ice Age!" A figure shouted as it appeared above everyone.

Tendrils of ice shot out from the man and touched the waves of seawater, turning them into huge walls of ice.

"Kuzan! That little kid...!" Whitebeard muttered as he saw who had stopped his attack.

Aokoji formed ice spears in the air as he fell towards Whitebeard.

"Partisan!" They flew towards the aged pirate, but he lazily raised a fist and swung it at the Admiral.

Before his hand could move very far, it stopped as if it hit an invisible wall. Cracks formed in the air.

"Oh my..." Aokoji muttered as he felt vibrations in the air.

His body shattered from the force and the pieces fell to the ocean.

Aokoji reformed himself before he hit the water and froze the area underneath him.

"Ice...Age!"

The ocean froze, how far it had become ice was unknown to even Aokoji.

"Quickly! Fire at the Moby Dick!" All cannons were pointed at Whitebeard's ship.

"Well...isn't this nice and convenient to walk on?!" One of the many pirates shouted out.

Whitbeard's Pirate army left their ships to fight and retrieve Ace back from the Marines.

* * *

The Shichibukai all watched the battle between the Marines and Whitebeard from their posts.

Bartholomew Kuma watched impassively with a bible in hand.

Donquixote Doflamingo looked excited as he watched the battles rage on.

Gekko Moriah, bandaged from his fight with Luffy, was in the same state as Doflamingo, except he was marveling at the amount of powerful shadows and bodies he could possibly retrieve. The Marines had informed him that he would be allowed to pick at whatever remained, if they won.

Boa Hancock was worried about Luffy. She could only hope that he was safe at the moment. And that the harlot known as Nico Robin hadn't sunk her teeth into her precious man.

Marshal D. Teach was missing. He had been unresponsive to the summons and would be removed from the Shichibukai.

Dracule Mihawk got up on the stone half-wall in front of them.

"Fuffuffuffu...You're going to join in to?!" Doflamingo asked the man.

"...This is merely conjecture...but..." The swordsman put a hand on the large black sword that rested on his back.

"...The distance between us and that man...seems rather small..."

* * *

The Pirates and Marines continued to fight, with no clear advantage being seen. Weapons, manpower... all seemed equally matched.

Who was stronger was the least of their worries as a powerful, green, and rather large gust of wind cut through everyone in its way towards Whitebeard.

"It's Hawkeye!"

The pirates were amazed at the strength it had as it made its way towards their "Father".

Whitebeard himself just smirked as one his most trusted sons stood before the wave.

The son in question stayed immobile as the wave met him.

It had been a rather fierce struggle, but eventually the strike was stopped and everyone saw who had stopped it.

"It's the 3rd Division Commander, "Diamond Joz"!"

* * *

A bright shine emerged from above the battlefield.

"Yasakani no Magatama."

The many lasers that shot towards Whitebeard surprised many of them.

"Kizaru!"

The Admiral had made his move and the lights got closer to Whitebeard.

"Dear dear..." He said as if it were a slight annoyance.

"That's a little bright..."

The "Strongest Man in the World" didn't even flinch as someone else leaped in front of him. The beams struck the man and exploded away from Whitebeard.

A man covered with blue flames flew above the aged pirate. His body reforming without a scratch and his arms shaped like wings.

It was the same man that Whitebeard had talked to earlier during his conversation with Ace.

"Can't have you taking out the King right off the bat, you know?" He told the lightman with a grin.

"It's 1st Division Commander, Marco!"

"You Whitebeard Pirates..." Kizaru's tone was one of amusement, but underneath, one could sense he was mocking.

"Sure are scary..."

Marco continued to grin at the Admiral, ignoring the awe that Marines and pirates alike held for him.

"You got me...!"

"You liar!"

His ability was of the Mythical Zoan class. Something even more rare than the Logias.

He flew towards the Admiral.

"Can't say I've ever seen a bird like that before!" Kizaru continued to shoot more beams of light at the Whitebeard Pirate, watching as the man transformed into a phoenix.

The beams exploded as they collided with the Zoan, but the blue flames healed any damage he sustained.

As soon as Marco reached Kizaru, he attempted a kick to the Admiral's head. It was blocked by the lightman.

"Oh! Pretty effective, I'd say!~" Kizaru smirked at the phoenixman.

Marco just sneered.

"You liar!"

He sent the man flying towards a building and watched as he crashed into it, creating a large explosion.

* * *

The Marines were shocked that a man of Kizaru's class was sent flying away so easily, but their hopes rose as the man walked out of the wreckage. The Admiral dusted his jacket as if he had just gotten a little dirty.

"Giant Division! Watch out for aerial attacks!" Kizaru ordered in a rare, commanding tone.

The giant Marine troops they had started to advance.

When suddenly, a large chunk of ice was thrown at them, courtesy of Joz.

And just as suddenly, a large fist of magma burst through the ice, evaporating it almost immediately.

"Admiral Sakazuki!"

Akainu stood where the three Admirals were sitting before the fighting. He hadn't even moved from his position.

The pirates and Marines alike screamed as the magma landed on them. The molten rock tearing and burning their bodies sent them into a slow a painful death.

* * *

One of the pieces flew towards Whitebeard, but he raised the bisento he had in his hand to block the rock.

He brought it to his face and blew the flames out with one breath.

"Go put your skills to work on a birthday cake, magma boy!"

Akaniu chuckled, his voice sounding sharp and remorseless.

"What? Do you not approve of gaudy funerals, Whitebeard?"

* * *

The war raged on. Many losing their lives in the initial burst of strength, but the strongest took a step back, in case the opposing side decided to try something again.

"Go get them, Oars Jr.!"

It was all slowed when the ice started to rumble from something big in the distance.

"Ace is nice..."

The voice was loud and booming. It sounded like it had been spoken by a giant, but only bigger.

"...I won't let him die!"

Even the giants were shocked by the creature that appeared.

* * *

"That's...the descendant of Kunihiki Oars..." One of the Vice-Admirals muttered.

"That thing's even bigger than a giant!"

The monstrous giant roared as it took out a blade.

"Don't let him into the bay! He'll smash through the lines too quickly!"

* * *

"Kishishishishishi! That body! I want his corpse!"

Moriah drooled where he stood as he saw Oars Jr.

"Fuffuffuffu...my whole body is tingling!" Donflamingo stated as he rushed forward into the fight.

* * *

"Oars! Don't do this! You'll only end up as a target!"

Ace was screaming from the scaffold, still bound by his chains.

"Don't worry, Ace! I'll be right there!" Oars Jr. ignored the pleas of his friend as he picked a battleship up and smashed two of the giant Marines with it.

"Oars has opened up a path into the bay! Everyone! Charge!"

Whitebeard growled at how Oars Jr. was just taking all the hits.

"There's a fine line between being heroic and being suicidal...!"

"Old Man!" The giant called out to his "Father", "Don't stop me! I want to save Ace...!"

He paused to cut one of the giant Marines with his blade.

"...As soon as I can!" A few cannons rang out and explosions covered his arm.

"I can see that!" Whitebeard shouted back, "Everyone! We got some ass wiping to do! Go and back Oars up!"

* * *

They kept pushing on with Oars leading them.

"Hey, isn't that the "Pirate Empress"?!" "She's so beautiful!"

"Quickly! Oars is distracting them, so take them out!"

Hancock watched as some pirates fired at her with cannons.

Moving quickly, she pulled a cartoonish heart from her mouth and pulled back on it.

"Slave...!"

She let it go, sending forth many arrows toward Marine and pirate alike.

"...Arrow!"

The little pink arrows pierced many on the battlefield, turning all that it touched into stone.

The Pirate Empress avoided the cannonballs flying her way by dashing forward, kicking a man and his sword as she did so.

His sword became stone and shattered from her attack as well as the side of his face.

"Perfume Femur!" Hancock shouted as she spun on one leg, striking everyone near her.

The remains of the men scattered around, the Marines shocked that she would attack her allies.

"Remember this!" Her snake, Salome, coiled beneath her and rose her into the air. She looked so far up, she was looking down at them.

"All men are my enemies!"

"_Excluding that one..." _She muttered quietly, hoping some deity would give her good fortune.

"I will ask that you all acknowledge that I helped you out!"

"What!? You attack us, yet you expect us to-!"

The Marines stopped their outrage as Hancock coyly hid her face from them.

"...By virtue of my beauty..."

"Gah...! She's just too...!"

The Marines all agreed that they couldn't report her to their superiors.

* * *

Oars Jr. was making good progress! He was almost there! All he had to do was get over this wall and-!

"Ursus..." Bartholomew Kuma had been standing on that wall. He had already compressed air into a small paw shaped bubble.

"...Shock."

Oars Jr. couldn't believe that a Shichibukai would send such a small attack his way.

The bubble exploded when it reached Oars Jr.'s stomach.

* * *

His sword shattered from the force and his comrades were sent flying away.

Oars Jr. stomach felt like it had been smashed a million times by a huge hammer and he fell to his knees.

A straw hat he had wrapped around his neck fell to the ground. It was light, despite its large size.

Oars Jr. remembered how Ace had spent hours making it for him and how the hat had served him well.

"Everyone! Fire at Oars!"

Cannon fire erupted around him, covering him in explosions. The pain was excruciating!

With his vision fading, he spotted Doflamingo on the wall.

"I..I can...at least take out...one...Shichibukai!" Smashing his arm where he had seen Doflamingo, he hoped that he had taken out one powerful enemy.

* * *

"Fuffuffuffuffu!"

Doflamingo floated above the giant and slowly touched the ground behind the large man.

Oars Jr.'s leg flew off at the knee. Blood spilled from it like a waterfall, drenching anyone who had been underneath his body.

"This is a riot!" Doflamingo laughed loudly as he saw Oars Jr. try to lift himself up.

* * *

"He's reached the plaza!"

The Marines started to panic as they saw Oars Jr. get closer to the platform Ace and Sengoku were on.

"...Just...a little...more...!" Oars Jr. rumbled out as he slowly bled out.

* * *

"That stupid Doflamingo! Cutting his leg off when I said I wanted his corpse!"

A dark figure stood underneath Oars Jr.'s heart.

Large, bat-like shadow creatures started to rise towards the giant's body.

"Tsuno Tokage!"

The shadow creatures tore through the giant's body, coming within a few inches of his heart.

* * *

Oars Jr. felt his life slipping from him as his hand came within a few meters of Ace.

The last thing he saw before his eyes failed him, was Ace's pained face.

"_I'm...sorry..." _

Oars Jr. fell to the ground with a large thud, cracking the ground.

* * *

"OARS...!"

Whitebeard watched Oars Jr. fall to the ground. He didn't know if his son was dead or not.

It pained him greatly to see that he was losing family left and right, but he couldn't be more proud.

They were fighting to save one of their brothers from the World. It made him feel happy that he had managed to live long enough to see his family care so much about each other.

"You're wide open, Whitebeard!"

Glancing to the side, he saw one of the giant Marines approaching him with a large axe.

With one swing of his arm, the blade of the axe broke and he grabbed the giant's face.

Slamming it down into the deck made Whitebeard feel a little guilty.

The Moby Dick didn't deserve to be treated like this.

Using his quake powers, he made sure the giant wouldn't get up so soon.

Ignoring the screams of alarm from the Marines, Whitebeard came to a conclusion.

"Everyone! Charge over Oars' body!" He ordered to his children.

They needed to end this soon.

* * *

"Fuffuffuffuffu! This is so great!"

"What's so funny, Doflamingo!?"

Many pirates stood around the Shichibukai, attempting to surround the pirate and take him out.

"Fuffuffuffu! What's so funny, you ask?!" Doflamingo smiled widely at the pirates.

"Why, this feeling at standing at the turning point of an age! Right now, this place is truly neutral!"

The man he spoke to didn't notice the maniacal glint behind Doflamingo's glasses.

"13th Division Commander, "Water Buffalo" Atmos!"

The Shichibukai lifted on hand and Atmos felt his body move without his will.

"Oh no...! Everyone! Get away from me!" He begged his comrades to run, but they were too confused.

Doflamingo laughed as he watched the Division Commander cut down his own men.

"Pirates are evil...?! Marines are Justice...!? Lord knows, how many times those labels has been passed around!" He continued to tell Atmos as he charged even more of his men.

"Whoever stands at the top can define what is right and wrong! Right now, we stand in neutral territory!"

He watched as Atmos fell to the cannon fire of the Marines.

"Justice will prevail?! Sure it will!"

"WHOEVER PREVAILS IS JUSTICE!" Doflamingo laughed loudly as he watched the Division Commander lose consciousness.

* * *

Garp made his way up to the platform Ace and Sengoku were on. A Marine passed by him, having been notified that it was time to forward the Fleet Admiral's plan.

This was all just a big waste of time to Garp. He knew that if things stayed as they were at this point...

Ace would die.

"...Gramps? What are you doing here?"

Ace was the first to notice his arrival.

"Garp? Do you have a problem with my strategy?"

Garp snorted and sat down next to Ace.

"I have a lot of problems with this, and you know that!"

Sengoku glared at his friend.

"Don't try anything, Garp! You're a Marine! You have your or-!"

"Yeah, yeah! I know!" Garp wasn't in the mood to be lectured on his duties.

"Those guys out there, I have no pity for! But...!"

"I can't say the same for family, Sengoku!"

Ace saw the pain on his grandfather's face. It was strange seeing the man looking so weak.

He had spoken to him back in Impel Down before he was taken to Marineford. Garp had told him that he had never wanted this life for him.

Ace told Garp that he had no regrets about the life he had led. He had also asked if Garp had wanted Luffy to have the life he had, but the old Marine didn't respond.

It was even more shocking to the fireman that Garp had tears in his eyes.

"Damn you, Ace! Why didn't you just live like I told you to!? This would have never happened!"

Ace calmed the rage he felt in his heart.

"The plans you had...involved Luffy getting sent to that awful place! I don't want to be apart of the World you live in!"

The "Hero of the Marines" turned his head away and grit his teeth loudly.

Sengoku quickly looked back to the battlefield, trying to quell the nervousness he felt.

Garp...was one of the variables in his plans.

If there was one man that could turn all of this around...it was him!

"If you try anything...Garp...I won't show you any mercy!"

Garp snorted.

"If I wanted to do anything, I would have done it a long time ago!"

That was when Ace saw something strange.

Garp was holding something in his hand. It looked like some kind of lanyard, but what was it for?

At this point, Ace couldn't be concerned about what his grandfather held in his hands!

He turned back to watch his family fight for his freedom.

Something else was flying through the air, but what was it?

* * *

A few moments earlier, Luffy's group had just been sailing as fast as they could towards Marineford.

Now the entire sea was frozen, and they were sent to the top of a giant ice wall. Below, they could see the battle rage on.

Luffy had his head tilted. Robin imagined that gears were trying to turn, but one was missing.

He suddenly raised a fist and slammed the bottom of it into his palm. A wide grin was on his face.

No one on the ship liked that look.

* * *

"Hey...what's that coming towards us?!"

"What in the World?! Something's falling from the sky!"

A large object was falling rapidly towards the battlefield, and everyone looked up at in in confusion.

"I told you that you were going over the top!"

Voices could be heard from the object.

"It was this idiot's wink that did it!"

"Are you blaming me for this, Croco boy?!"

As it came closer, all occupants in the war widened their eyes.

"Fufufufufu...I wonder what the ice will look like after we get smashed on it..."

"Oh! I'm rubber, so I'll be fine!"

"You're so selfish, Straw Hat!"

Most of the group landed in the water. Robin had grabbed Luffy and used "Wing" to safely float to the ground.

* * *

"GARP!" Sengoku turned quickly in his friend's direction.

"IS THAT ANOTHER MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY!?"

"Oh crap!" Garp rose to his feet and held his head in panic.

"Luffy! What are you doing here!?"

* * *

Crocodile saw his chance! Whitebeard was just standing there, unprotected!

It was time for revenge!

He crossed the distance in less than a second and watched as his hook approached his foe.

"Remember me, Whitebear-!"

A foot kicked his hook away and he flew back.

* * *

Luffy, with steam coming from his skin and his limbs black, glared back at him.

"Straw Hat...! I thought we had a deal!"

"So, this guy is Whitebeard, huh?! Well, he means a lot to Ace, so you're not touching him!"

Luffy stood before the "Strongest Man in the World" without a trace of fear on his face. If anything, he transformed into his devil.

Robin appeared next to him, waiting to see what needed to be done.

* * *

"That straw hat..."

Luffy looked behind him to see that Whitebeard was looking down at him.

"That looks a little like the one that red haired brat used to wear..."

"Oh?! You know Shanks?! I'm just borrowing this from him!"

The two stared at each other while the fighting seemed to stop to watch the two pirates.

"Are you here to save your brother?"

Luffy jumped a little and remembered where he was.

"Yeah! I'm here to save Ace!"

"Fool..."

Whitebeard growled at the rubberman and everyone thought the younger pirate had a deathwish.

"Don't you know where you are?! You won't be able to do anything by throwing your life aw-!"

"Shut up!" Luffy ignored Crocodile to glare at Whitebeard.

"I don't have to listen to you! You want to be the Pirate King, don't you!? Well...!"

Luffy raised a hand and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"That's not going to happen because I'm going to be the Pirate King!" His warped voice declared to the "Strongest Man in the World".

* * *

For once, the battlefield was devoid of all noise.

Robin wanted to laugh, but this situation was more serious than it seemed. Whitebeard could crush them at any-

"Gurarararara...!"

The "Strongest Man in the World" chuckled.

"Is that so...? Well, don't get in my way, Greenhorn!"

"I'll do whatever the hell I want to, Old Man!"

Everyone on the Sabody Archipelago and Marineford jumped in shock.

Monkey D. Luffy grew more infamous in that one moment.

* * *

"Luffy? What about the information we learned from the enemy?"

"Oh yeah! Hey! Old Man! They're going to execute Ace ahead of schedule!"

"Really?! Are you certain of that?!"

"We are. We were aboard one of their vessels and their leader broadcasted it over their Den Den Mushis."

"Hm...that's good information to know...I must thank you!"

"Nah, don't worry about it! We both want to save Ace!"

Everyone wondered how the two Straw Hats talked to Whitebeard so casually.

"Alright! I'm coming, Ace!"

Luffy jumped off the Moby Dick, headed towards the platform where they held Ace.

"A pleasure meeting you, Whitebeard-san."

Robin headed off as well, using her "Wing" to glide above the battlefield.

"Those brats..."

Whitebeard smirked.

It would be interesting to see what that Straw Hat brat would do.

* * *

The Marines were crawling all over the place! Luffy dodged several weapons swung at him, and used a "Whip" to clear them out of his way.

"Straw Hat Luffy! Prepare to meet your end!"

A Marine suddenly appeared behind Luffy, preparing to strike him down!

Hands sprouted from his body and broke his back.

"Thanks, Robin!'

"Watch out!"

Looking ahead, Luffy saw the one man he didn't want to see for a while.

"Straw Hat Luffy...the Tenryuubito will give us hell if we don't catch you soon...!"

Kizaru was up ahead with a bright light emanating from his raised foot.

Before he shot his leg towards the pirate captain, hands changed the course of the attack and the ground exploded next to Luffy, sending him to the ground.

Growling, the rubberman was going to leap to his feet, but a foot held him down.

Ice started to form on his chest.

"Jeez! Why are you here, Straw Hat Luffy?!" Aokoji muttered from above him, "And you brought Robin too?! Are you insane!?"

"Gr! Get off of me!" His body was starting to get cold, but the process had slowed due to Luffy manifesting partially.

Hearing something approaching, Aokoji looked up just in time to be broken into little pieces from the black arms that erupted from his body.

* * *

Robin swept Luffy off of the ground and held him in her arms so that he was facing the ground.

"Luffy! Could you help us get farther from the ground?!"

"Yeah...! Thanks for the help!"

Stamping the ground, the two rose into the air. Robin rolled to the side to avoid a few more laser blasts from another unwanted attacker.

Bartholomew Kuma stood on the wall, still in position, with his bible pocketed. He was charging a laser in his mouth.

The wall exploded and Ivankov, with the rest of the prisoners, began to make their move.

"Kuma...what are you doing...?!" The Okama King couldn't believe that his friend was capable of not only firing beams from his mouth, but that he would attack Straw Hat boy and Nico girl.

Didn't he know they still needed Nico girl?!

"Fuffuffuffu...nice meeting you, Revolutionary Commander Ivankov!"

Doflamingo walked up to the Okama King.

"Don't you know?! The World Government modified Kuma to be a "human weapon"!"

Ivankov would learn that his friend was no more. That he had been modified so much, that Bartholomew Kuma was now dead.

* * *

"STAY BACK, LUFFY!"

Ace screamed at the two approaching pirates in disbelief.

It had been one thing that his family had come to get him, but Luffy?!

No, this wasn't the place for him! He could die!

"What are you talking about?!" Luffy's voice could be heard from even here.

Ace felt a little sorry for the woman holding the rubberman. Actually...she looked familiar.

"I shouldn't have to tell you this! We're pirates! We chose this life!"

The fireman tried his best to ignore the trembling his grandfather made.

He did note, however, that one of the Shichibukai knocked the two down. Luffy ignored the leek like man in front of him and chose to stare at his brother.

"I have my own adventure, my own family! A weakling like you coming to save me?! What do you think you can possibly do?!"

"Why are you here, Luffy!?"

"CAUSE I'M YOUR BROTHER!"

Luffy roared back, sending the leek man back. The unmistakable feel of Haoshoku rolled off of him.

Many of the strongest fighters there noticed this.

"Those stupid pirate rules?! I don't care about them!"

* * *

Garp was a man who had great pride in his family. He had been delighted to hear that Dragon had been doing well (though he was the most hated man in the World), and that Luffy was so strong, that the World Government had even assigned him a pretty high bounty! Hearing that his grandson had taken down Enies Lobby had made Garp laugh for almost a day.

But this was beyond stupid! Why was Luffy here?! Hell, how did he even get here?!

"This is bad..."

Looking to the side, Garp saw that Sengoku was shaking.

"What...? What do you mean?! This is terrible! Why the hell is my gra-?!"

"No, this is far worse than that, Garp!" Sengoku looked strange. Almost like he was...worried?

That was something that made Monkey D. Garp suspicious. Sengoku was never worried.

"What are you talking about, Sengoku?"

The Fleet Admiral didn't answer him. The man instead chose to raise the Den Den Mushi back up to his mouth.

"Everyone! Focus on capturing Monkey D. Luffy and Nico Robin as soon as you can!"

Luffy and Robin looked up to see that the Fleet Admiral was ordering his men to focus on them now.

They couldn't have been that much of a threat, could they?

"It's important that you retrieve those two as soon as possible! They are much more than just simple pirates...!"

"THEY'RE HUMAN WEAPONS! THE POWER THEY HAVE, IS FAR BEYOND EVEN WHITEBEARD!"

The Fleet Admiral was shaken, and Garp realized why he wanted those two captured.

He had not taken them in account in his plans. They could disrupt everything.

"Sengoku..."

The Fleet Admiral turned to see Garp looking at him angrily.

"...What do you mean...they're "human weapons"?!"

He didn't answer immediately, knowing that whatever he said from this point on, would enrage the "Hero of the Marines" even more.

"...They're exactly that, Garp. What do you think those Facilities were for, anyway?"

He received a growl for his brief explanation. Sighing, he ignored his friend.

"This is really bad...Straw Hat Luffy's ability...can completely ruin any strategy!"

The Fleet Admiral tried to come up with more plans as he watched Luffy's progress, not in the slightest worried about his fuming friend.

Whatever he did, Garp would not betray him.

Garp never went up against his friends.

* * *

Moriah had been in their way for a brief second, but Jinbei had arrived, claiming that he would take care of the shadowman.

He had been convincing enough when he annihilated the zombies Moriah had with him.

A giant tried to attack them, but a quick combination of "Clutch" and "Gigant Rifle" had taken him down for the count.

"I don't care what you say, Ace!" Luffy yelled out as he and Robin ran forwards.

"I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU!"

* * *

Many of the Marines tried to stop them, but most couldn't hold up to Luffy's constant Haoshoku barrage and Robin's black hands.

"Why he chose not to reveal your heritage...!"

Robin pulled Luffy back as a fist made of magma landed where the rubberman would have been.

"...is unknown to me! But know this, Son of Dragon, I won't let you leave here alive!"

Akainu had arrived. He stood before the two Straw Hats.

The historian didn't like these odds. Akainu was said to have been the most ruthless of the three Admirals, and he never took prisoners.

That was something she learned a long time ago when this very man had Ohara burned to the ground. He left no survivors.

"Hell...!"

Akainu was blown away from the sudden attack.

"...Wink!"

Luffy and Robin took this chance to continue onwards.

"Ah! Iva-chan! Thank you!"

The Okama King stood still as he watched the two pirates ran on.

"Did...he just say..."Son of Dragon"?!"

He didn't have time to ponder his question as he avoided a magma fist in fear, also missing that a blue bird flew towards Akainu to engage the Admiral.

* * *

The two Straw Hats were making good time as every Marine either was broken or collapsed. Sadly, Luffy's ability also knocked out any friendly pirates in their way.

"Straw Hat!" A woman wearing glasses stood in their way now.

Robin remembered this woman. She was from Loguetown and Alabasta. It was a curiosity why she was here, seeing as she wasn't strong enough to be on a battlefield of this magnitude.

"Get out of the way, Tashigi!"

A jutte came from out of the nearby smoke. Luffy jumped in front of Robin, expecting to deflect the hit, but it knocked him onto his back.

"Gah! It's you, Smokey!"

"That's Smoker!"

The smokeman emerged from the smoke that surrounded them. He had used some fires to cover his approach.

"I don't have time to play with you!" Luffy's fists turned black.

"Gum Gum Gattling...!"

The man's body erupted in smoke and Robin noticed with some interest that he didn't appear hurt.

"That trick won't work on me, Straw Hat!" He shot towards the rubberman, intending to bring him down.

"HOW DARE YOU...!"

Even Robin was surprised by the kick the Marine received.

Boa Hancock stood in front of Luffy, shielding him from the smokeman.

"How dare you touch my beloved like that!"

"Hancock!" Smoker shouted as he raised his jutte at her, "Do you mean to aband-?!"

"SILENCE!" Hancock screamed back.

A strange pressure started to press down on Robin, but she was able to withstand it. It felt similar to Luffy's, but more focused.

She couldn't say the same for the Marines. Smoker started to look a little faint.

"I am filled with such rage that I cannot even hear your words!"

The Pirate Empress looked more fearsome than Robin had ever seen her.

"You shall not live...! I have never felt such anger in my-!"

"Hancock!" Luffy picked himself up and saw who had helped him out.

"Indeed ~!" Hancock turned to blush heavily at the rubberman.

"Thanks again! You keep helping us out!"

Hancock deeply frowned at Robin at the mention of "us", but said nothing else.

"Luffy, you have to keep moving on! I'll take care of this guy for you!" Putting her sweet smile back on, she hoped that Luffy would manage to save his brother.

"Thanks, Hancock! I really owe you!" The rubberman hugged her and ran off with Robin.

He missed how the Shichibukai collapsed to her knees from being overwhelmed by her feelings for him.

* * *

Robin was really getting tired of running, but she could keep going. It was a skill that she had refined many years ago as she ran from the World Government.

Now though, she was running towards her enemies, intending on fighting them to free the brother of the man she called captain.

Sensing something was off, Robin looked at her captain.

He was ragged and panting loudly. He had long since demonized and his limbs were black. Luckily, he had not activated that ability she once heard him call "Gear 2nd".

She hoped he could run a bit farther on his own.

A giant hand slapped away a rapidly charging man away from Luffy.

"Luffy! Keep going! I'll hold him off!"

"What?! Hold who-?!"

A bright light narrowly missed Luffy. It continued its path until it exploded in the distance.

Admiral Kizaru stood with a hand pointed at Luffy in the shape of a gun.

Luffy growled loudly and was about to pounce, but a gentle push knocked him out of his trance.

"I don't think you should keep your brother waiting, Luffy!"

"Wait a second! Don't tell me you're going to hold HIM off?!"

Robin took a moment to smile at the rubberman.

"I am. Trust in me, Luffy."

Luffy stared at her calm smile. The destruction around them didn't faze the two Straw Hats.

With a sigh, Luffy turned to the execution platform.

"...Alright. Just...stay safe!"

"Same to you, Luffy."

"Hey...don't talk as though you have a-"

A quick snap and Kizaru was broken in half. His halves floated a bit before reforming.

Luffy had already taken off.

A shine blinded Robin for a brief second, and Admiral Kizaru stood before her unharmed.

"How rude ~"

Robin just gave him a malicious smile.

* * *

Luffy ran as fast as he could.

Robin would be fine as long as he could get Ace free and run back! Everything would work out!

Something was coming!

Luffy jumped to the side just as a gust of wind past by, cutting everything in its way.

Ahead, there stood one man Luffy knew he couldn't fight.

Dracule Mihawk remained where he was. He only looked at where Luffy was.

Hoping to use some of the fighters on the field as a shield, Luffy jumped behind some pirates.

The rubberman was disappointed to find that his body was cut from the swordsman's skill. It was a testament to the "Greatest Swordsman in the World"'s skill that he had not cut the pirates.

"You still remain in my range, Straw Hat Luffy." The man's voice sounded as stoic as ever as Luffy fell to the ground, bleeding.

Mihawk moved his head to the side as a fist came shooting past him. He attempted to cut it, but it had already retracted.

He could sense the rubberman's attacks, but Luffy was able to do the same. The two traded strikes, but none connected.

Mihawk's slash cut one of the gigantic ice walls in half. Luffy's fist smashed hundreds of soldiers with just one blow.

Luffy gave a tremendous shout, but "Hawkeyes" never faltered. He had felt willpower equal to, if not, stronger than the Straw Hat captain's.

A storm was blowing their way and Luffy looked up at it.

Mihawk took this chance to cut the rubberman in half.

"Gum Gum Jet Substitute!"

He managed to avoid getting cut by replacing himself with another.

The man was cut completely in half. Mihawk had ensured to use Busoshoku, so whoever the poor soul was, had no chance-

"STRAW HAT! YOU DAMN BASTARD!"

The man's halves reconnected and he screamed at the rubberman.

"Gum Gum Jet Substitute!"

The man was cut into even more pieces, but he just reformed.

"Damn it! You!" He pointed to Mihawk, "You're Hawkeyes, aren't you?!"

It had been strange before, but now blood poured from the cuts on the man as his pieces flew in the air.

"I'll show you what it means to mess with Captain Buggy!"

Initially distracted by the weird man, Mihawk noticed that Luffy had escaped.

"This is not over, Straw Hat Luffy..."

* * *

**And that's that! I'm not completely done with it, but I thought I could at least post half or 3/4ths of it now. **

**Let me know what you think!**


	29. Marineford (Part 2)

**Hello again, everyone! It's been a while! **

**After all of these chapters of reading/watching the series, I decided to do this chapter by memory. It's probably the half way point of the Marineford Arc.**

**Now, I really wanted this arc to be perfect, which has actually been the real cause of the delay of chapters and I worry and tear my hair out as I write this stuff, but I came to a realization. None of my chapters are perfect! In fact, I probably have to go back and change most of the writing I did due to errors and some of the stuff I put in is too out of it, such as the thing Luffy did with Brook and Lucci licking Luffy's blood, despite him forgetting what happens to DF eaters if they consume other DF eaters. **

**Anyway, this chapter is mostly unedited, as I want to see if it was too much (such as Sengoku talking too much), so let me know what you think!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Toei.**

* * *

"It's time!"

Sengoku signaled Sentomaru to begin the Pacifista squad to advance behind the attacking pirates.

He had to also order two Pacifistas to fly ahead to stop Straw Hat Luffy's approach. The pirate was gaining more ground with each ally that managed to stop anyone's attempts to slow him down.

A hand landed on Sengoku's shoulder, surprising the man from his observations.

"Sengoku..." He turned to the lowered voice that was barely contained by the speaker.

The Fleet Admiral didn't like how Garp kept his head down, keeping his expression from sight.

Ace had his head held against the platform. The pirate was overwhelmed by many different emotions watching his family fight for his freedom.

"...I asked you...what did you mean that my grandson was a "human weapon"?"

Garp's voice was quiet and controlled, and Sengoku felt the pang of nervousness rise from his heart.

He had kept this information from the "Hero of the Marines" for a reason.

If Garp found out many of the things that had been done to his grandson...it would not be pretty.

"It means what it means...Garp! You should notice by now that Straw Hat Luffy's capable of knocking even Elite Marine soldiers out with just his willpower!"

This was a tough situation. Sengoku couldn't reveal too much or say too little.

"...When he was submitted to the Goa Facility," Garp visibly flinched at the mention of that cursed place, "Dr. Noc and Dr. Di quickly found that his haki was volatile. It would, at times, get so much that many of the doctors couldn't even stand near him. But, most of all..."

Looking back to the battlefield, he was pleased to see that the Pacifistas were trapping the enemy's escape from the bay. Soon, his plan could be fully enacted.

Sengoku moved closer to the edge to escape Garp's grasp.

"He was...designed so that his mere presence would awaken the latent willpower in others. We were going to use that ability to increase the number of soldiers able to use haki, but we lost the Facility and it was too risky to go back and build another one."

Watching the battlefield carefully, Sengoku never noticed the dark look that crossed Garp's face when he had uttered the word "use" to order his men to proceed to the next phase.

All that mattered to the Fleet Admiral was victory. Anything else was irrelevant.

* * *

Mihawk sliced Buggy's hands into pieces, but they continued towards him, intending on holding him down so the clown could land a blow, but the swordsman was too graceful to allow the enemy pirate to even land one hit.

It was a shame that his clothes were stained with the man's blood, but there wasn't much he could do about that. It came from the clown, flying in all directions, and it was next to impossible to avoid the liquid.

He did notice, however, that the area was relatively clean despite the amount Buggy produced. In fact, he was the only thing covered in the blood.

Buggy himself had a mad glint in his eyes as he kept attacking. With no regard for his own life, the clown kept trying to stab Mihawk with any of the weapons lying on the battlefield.

Guns, swords, knives, and even a cannon were utilized to try to fight Mihawk, but no matter what Buggy did, the swordsman would manage to dodge everything he threw at him.

But the former deck hand of Gol D. Roger still had a trick up his sleeve. More accurately, he still had one weapon he had stored away in his body.

"Bara Bara Festival!"

Buggy sent both hands towards Mihawk with an assortment of weapons held between the fingers.

Mihawk noticed that the only body part not surrounding him were Buggy's feet, which remained on the ground.

The clown's feet shot towards him, picking up blades and keeping them his foot somehow.

He cut the hands and feet to pieces, though one hand floated through the air in front of his face.

One of the fingers opened up and a little ball came within inches of Mihawk's face.

Mihawk knew that this was one of the clown's tricks and decided to move away from whatever Buggy had planned for him.

Before he could move, something tightened around his body!

The Muggy Ball started to shine, signifying that it was just beginning to explode.

Light covered Mihawk's vision and he realized with a start why he couldn't move easily.

The stuff that covered his clothing wasn't blood.

Buggy's laugh was muffled by the sound of the Muggy Ball exploding.

* * *

Robin was knocked down by one of the explosions caused by Kizaru's laser beams.

She tried to get up, but a finger hovered a few inches away from her face.

It shot a laser through her head, and Kizaru sighed.

Robin's body turned into a flurry of rose petals that floated a bit through the air before disintegrating.

A black arm erupted from Kizaru's chest and he felt the pain that it caused when it went through his light body. Even if he was light, it still hurt.

It was a bit more surprising as he felt more limbs sprout from within his body, tearing his arms off.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the woman had actually shoved her real arm through his back.

She gave him a smirk before his entire body was ripped apart by the many arms that had formed within him.

The historian knew that this was far from over. Even if she knew that it hurt him, Logias were feared for a reason.

Kizaru formed a meter away from her.

"That ability of yours...sure is scary ~" Kizaru looked almost amused as the words left his mouth.

"The scary one here is you, Kizaru." Robin felt drained. Wishes of being back aboard the Thousand Sunny disappeared before they elicited feelings of longing to arise.

She could fight the Admiral, but trying to defeat him was next to impossible. He was too strong to defeat, but she could hold him off for as long as she-

"As fun as this was, Nico Robin, I'll have to leave now." He looked over to where Luffy had run off, "It seems, I have played too long with you."

His body shined before he shot towards her captain.

He didn't make it very far as a giant black hand formed in the air and slapped him down into the ground.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you're allowed to leave."

The Admiral picked himself out of the ice and didn't even look back in her direction. He chose to repeat his earlier action.

Robin didn't mind. She would keep him away from Luffy as long as she could.

"Kizaru! You go on ahead!"

A frightfully familiar voice called out to the Admiral and Robin was forced to switch with a clone she had formed hastefully.

She watched as the body she left turn to ice and shatter. The pieces slowly turned to rose petals and flew off.

Aokoji stared at her from where she was.

"I'll take care of her."

Kizaru stayed for a moment.

"Don't let your emotions control you, Aokoji."

Aokoji didn't acknowledge the comment his comrade had made before he left.

He chose to walk slowly towards Robin instead.

Robin crossed her arms, but couldn't stop herself from shaking.

Kizaru was someone she could handle because she was able to maintain her calm, but against Aokoji, her composure was thrown off.

She only hoped that someone capable of keeping Kizaru away from Luffy was around.

* * *

Luffy kept running towards the execution platform, throwing Marines to the side with his fists as he ran.

A few explosions caused by beams of light threw him to the ground.

Two Pacifistas passed by, blocking his way to Ace.

Picking his head up off the ice, Luffy growled deeply at the two machines.

Steam exploded from his skin as he rose to his feet with his hands embedded in the ice.

Opening their mouths, the Pacifistas fired more beams of light at the pirate captain.

Luffy rocketed to the side, to line the Pacifistas up so he could focus on them one at a time.

Burying a hand into the ice as he reached his desired position, Luffy stopped his flight and charged towards the first Pacifista, leaving his arms behind.

With a roar, he "Bazooka"ed the first Pacifista into the ground. Using his momentum from his attack, Luffy grabbed onto the machine and rotated forwards as the second Pacifista charged its own attack.

The rubberman let himself reverese his rotation, and he sent the Pacifista into the other one with a "Bowgun", but he kept his hold on the machine and kept rotating backwards.

The second Pacifista had to stop charging its attack, as an ally had entered its line of fire. The first one had a free shot, so it started up its attack, shooting beams of light from its palms.

Luffy felt the pain as a few lasers tore through his legs, but managed to avoid having any vital areas pierced.

The tension in his arms were reaching their peak. His "Gear 2nd" made his rotation much faster, and he felt that it was time to release all of that energy.

"Gum...Gum...!"

Keeping himself in the air for a brief second, Luffy tensed on of his legs up.

The Pacifista had stopped using its hand cannons and chose to charge up its mouth cannon.

"..Jet Rotating..Axe...!"

The beam of light that the Pacifista had fired at him was cut in half by Luffy's "Axe", sending the two halves behind him to explode against the ice.

Luffy's legs were nothing but blurs, and he was nothing but a yellow and white circle in the middle of it all as he collided with the two machines.

They were cut in less than a second as Luffy's attack divided them.

The rubberman's leg tore into the ice, gouging it as he traveled some distance across the field.

Deciding to cut his attack short, or else he would actually be moving away from Ace, Luffy slammed his foot straight into the ground.

Deep cracks formed on the ice, sending chunks of it into the air as Luffy's foot crashed through the ice. Many Marines and pirates alike were thrown into the air from the force.

Luffy stood within the crater he had made and prepared to rocket towards Ace.

"That's as far as you go, Straw Hat Luffy!"

The kick had caught him off guard. His flight wasn't long, but at the speed he was going at, all of his progress would be lost.

Kizaru had stopped him. His single action managed to delay Ace's rescue.

Luffy heard an enormous explosion in the distance before he hit the ice, a couple more of whatever had caused it. Being made of rubber, Luffy didn't sustain much injury, the biggest being to his mind.

Everything he had done! All of those that had helped him get that far...was all in vain!

The rubberman slowly rose out of the crater, using his lower body to throw his upper body up off the ice. He hunched over and a growl came from his opening mouth.

* * *

Prior to Luffy's landing, Mihawk made it back to the main courtyard on Marineford.

The Shichibukai had been informed of Sengoku's plan, and so they were told to be in the courtyard off the ice before it was too late.

The clown had gotten ahead of himself. Thinking that one little explosive was even going to harm the "Greatest Swordsman in the World".

Checking his clothing, he noticed that there was a scuff mark on pants.

Frowning, he remembered how he had used the clown's explosives against him.

Ever since "Red Haired" lost his arm, he had been losing his edge. Tough opponents were far and wide, and even though Whitebeard was the "Strongest Man in the World", he had been getting old. Even now, it would not be a battle Mihawk would have liked to have with the aging pirate.

Mihawk thought he had seen a white blur pass by him, and surmised that it was Luffy.

The rubberman had surprised him. The power he felt from the young man was immense, but he didn't know how to wield it.

He would learn in time, if he were to survive this first.

Looking around, he noticed that most of the Shichibukai were in the courtyard, but the "Pirate Empress" was missing.

Mihawk didn't care. He was only here to fight worthy opponents. Seeing the next generation of pirates was just an added bonus.

* * *

"Ah, Squard! How's the battle going?"

Whitebeard greeted his son as he got up onto the deck of the Moby Dick. Squard, captain of the Maelstrom Spider Pirates, looked a little injured, but relatively okay. His clothes were stained with blood and his sword had its fair share of the crimson liquid as well.

He sheathed the sword and looked his father in the eyes.

"They're pushing us hard, but we're gradually gaining ground against the Marines! Those Pacifistas...really did a number on our forces..."

Squard had a dark look in his eyes as he watched more of the cyborgs blast his allies into the air. Their pained screams made him want to go back out there and destroy those monsters for hurting his family!

"Yes, their weapons are strong! Soon, I'll be joining the fight, so don't worry about a thing, my son!"

Whitebeard watched as Squard walked in front of him to peer over the side of the ship.

"You've always been there for us, Pops."

The man sighed and drew the larger sword tied to his waist.

"If it weren't for you...I imagine most of us wouldn't have had a reason to live anymore..."

His father put a large hand on his shoulder.

"Everything will be alright, Squard. We'll rescue Ace and all of us will go back home...!"

Squard laughed shakily. He turned to grin up at his father.

"Yes...all of us will be going home..."

Whitebeard returned with a grin of his own.

* * *

Marco held off Akainu for the most part, but the Admiral retreated, a thing the "Red Dog" was not known for.

It must have been a part of the plan that the Marines had. Whatever it was, the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance would be ready for it!

Looking behind him towards the Moby Dick, Marco was surprised to see Squard standing in front of Whitebeard.

Squard was supposed to be down here still. His brothers needed him with them.

His father and captain had his hand on Squard's shoulder and he looked like he was smiling.

Squard stabbed Whitebeard.

Marco's eyes widened as he saw Whitebeard replace his grin with a grimace filled with surprise.

"Father!"

* * *

The fighting started to dull a bit after Marco's scream and they all turned towards the Moby Dick.

Many were shocked that Whitebeard, the "Strongest Man in the World", had just been stabbed through the chest.

Some of the Marines didn't look fazed. Among them were Akainu and Sengoku.

Luffy was just getting ready to rush forwards when he heard Marco scream.

He barely recognized Robin as she ran to his side.

* * *

Whitebeard stared at his son incredulously as the blade came out, pulling a copious amount of blood with it.

Squard's head smashed into the ground as Marco furiously assaulted his former ally.

"Why!? Why, Squard!? What the hell is wrong with you!?" Marco's words were laden with hatred and a rampaging fury, but it held tints overwhelming sorrow that his own brother would attack their beloved father.

"Shut up! How..how could he!? How could he hide that man's son from me!?"

Squard could barely speak as he was slowly strangled by the Mythical Zoan user. He was held against the Deck of the Moby Dick as Whitebeard stood behind the two.

"You know...what Roger did to my family, yet you harbored his son!? Not only that, but don't you see that the only ones not being attacked by the mechanical Kuma clones...are the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Distant explosions and the screaming of their family rang through the air as the previously mentioned Pacifistas attacked another group of pirates, wiping out most of their targets.

"That man...Akainu was right!" Squard muttered out as Marco increased the strength of his grip. Squard could feel his vision getting faint, and the burning of his lungs was almost unbearable.

The feeling of being betrayed by his father was much worse...! The man he pledged his life to was just sacrificing his brothers to save that wretched man's s-!

"Marco!" The 1st Division Commander lifted his head in surprise at Whitebeard.

"...Let him go."

"But...Pops-!"

"Brothers should not fight so violently with each other!" Whitebeard leveled a glare towards Marco.

"Let him go!"

Reluctantly, Marco released Squard, who was still lying on the ground in disbelief.

"...What? Why...?! I attacked you!" Squard was now sitting upright and screaming at Whitebeard.

"I'm ready to die! Don't act so innocent, Whi-!"

His words were cut off as something descended upon him. He closed his eyes as he awaited his punishment.

A strong arm wrapped itself around his neck, and pulled him into an warm embrace.

Thoughts escaped Squard as he tried to comprehend his current situation.

"Squard...why are you here?" His father asked.

"What-?"

"Did you not come here to save your brother?"

Gritting his teeth, Squard remembered how everyone in the Maelstrom Spider Pirates proclaimed that they would save their precious brother from the Marines.

That they would not stand idly by as their friend, their brother to just die.

"Things have ch-!"

"Really? What changed? Ace is still Ace, is he not?"

Blood dripped down onto Squard's forehead from Whitebeard's wound.

Squard remembered how Ace was so kind, and caring. How he would help his friends with their problems, how he would not stand to see innocents suffer.

He even helped former Facility sufferers integrate back into a life that they wanted. Ace had once told him that he couldn't just free the captives, but he had to help them live a life where they could they could put all of that pain in the past.

"Squard, you might think that I hate you."

Squard was brought out of his thoughts as Whitebeard continued to speak.

"...But that's not true. I'm really proud of you...you were thinking of your family this whole time."

Times when he and Ace would party together, fight together, laugh, cry, and be happy together.

Everything he and Ace had done, they tore at Squard's mind as he realized what Whitebeard was trying to tell him.

"This sins of that father...should not be carried by the son, Squard!"

* * *

"No..."

Whitebeard was a little sorry that Squard had his blood all over him, but he was happy to see that Squard was finally understanding his words.

"No...! What...what have I done...!?" The Maelstrom Spider Pirate captain covered his face with his hands as Whitebeard held him closer. The man was cried loudly against the old pirate's chest.

"It's okay, Squard. I forgive you!"

His words only made the man cry louder.

"Squard, what made you believe I valued Ace's life more than I value any of yours?"

Squard paused in his crying to look up into his caring father's eyes.

"It...it was that Admiral Akainu." Recognition shot through Whitebeard, "He told me...that you had made a deal with the Marines! That they would spare Ace, if you would sacrifice all of our lives!"

"Akainu..." Whitebeard growled out with a little more anger than he meant, "I have a feeling that this is part of Sengoku's plan as well..."

"No...Pops! I'm so sorry!" Squard closed his eyes tightly as more tears fell.

"It's okay, Squard! I won't die from just that!" Whitebeard rose to walk to the bow of the Moby Dick.

"You Marine bastards..." Whitebeard muttered to low for Squard to hear.

"...How dare you...! How dare you use my son like this...!" His voice rose loudly and the sounds of battle died down as everyone's attention was refocused towards the Moby Dick.

"I LOVE ALL OF MY CHILDREN EQUALLY! HOW DARE YOU HURT ANY OF THEM LIKE THIS!"

Whitebeard raised both of his fists up into the air, which shook violently from the vibrations the "Strongest Man in the World" was producing.

Swinging them to the side, massive cracks formed in the air.

The giant walls of ice that had enclosed the pirates into the trap the Marines had caught the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance in exploded with an unreal force, sending large amounts of shards into the air. As it all cleared, the walls that had kept them all in were reduced to nothing moisture in the air.

"IF ANY OF YOU WANT TO LEAVE, YOU MAY!" Whitebeard addressed his sons with a voice filled with anger.

"I WILL NOT BE ASHAMED! BUT IF YOU WISH TO STAY, KNOW THIS...!"

Whitebeard glared directly at Sengoku, and the Fleet Admiral knew that the situation had already gone from bad, to worse.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY!"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! Loved it, hated it, whatever you felt, I would appreciate some feedback! It might help me write something better next time!**


	30. Marineford (Part 3)

**Hello everyone! Here's another chapter for you all! **

**I think that instead of putting all of Marineford into one chapter, I'll split it into two after posting all the parts. I think I can make a name for two chapters! Sure beats making a name for one huge ass chapter, or making names for 3 or 4 chapters. **

**Let me know what you think!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Toei.**

* * *

The strength that Luffy felt from Whitebeard's attack had been the strongest thing he had ever seen up to that point. The gigantic walls of ice that towered over the people, the ships, and even the island had crumbled from the force.

It was no wonder why Ace followed the old guy! He watched as the old pirate took out not only one of the giants with one punch, but his attack had passed through his enemy towards the execution platform! All three Admirals appeared in a flash and only just stopped it from reaching Ace!

Dismissing his amazement, Luffy ran forward towards the island, passing Robin in his reckless rush to save his brother.

He didn't get far. Luffy had ignored how the Marines had retreated from the ice to fortify the walls that barred his way. As soon as the rubberman reached the walls, they rose high into the air.

Unbeknownst to Luffy, walls had surrounded the entire bay that had been frozen by Aokoji before the war broke out. The only ones left on the ice was the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance, the Pacifistas, and some stranded Marines that were unable to make it back to the mainland.

In a rage, Luffy pounded his fists against the walls, unable to do more than to dent the thick metal obstacle.

* * *

Whitebeard had also attempted to destroy the walls, but the wall held firm against the quakeman's attack.

Slits opened up all over the wall and cannons emerged from the openings.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku barked more orders to his forces and Luffy heard the name Akainu brought up.

All was still on the ice as the pirates awaited whatever attack the Marines launched at them. The Pacifistas had stopped attacking as well, and it appeared they were waiting for a combined assault.

Dark clouds that had formed from the fighting blocked most of the sky from view. Some fires still raged on, contributing to the black mass that was above them all.

And then, the pirates were met with something that was nothing short of apocalyptic.

The black clouds above them all had glowed a dull sort of orange before massive molten meteors fell from the sky. Lightning trailed after them in the thick clouds, making it seem as though Heaven itself was attacking them.

The cannons that lined the walls erupted in a crescendo of fire, blasting the pirates with explosive rain.

Pacifistas that had been silent suddenly shot brilliant blasts of light that pierced many of the pirates and tore the ground apart with great violence. Cutting and burning many that it passed through, eventually exploding near any unfortunate pirate that happened to be nearby.

In a short moment, many lives were lost in the unforgiving salvo.

* * *

Luffy still beat his fists on the unflinching wall. He felt many arms wrap themselves around his own, and he wanted to pry them off, but could not. His strength felt sapped by the comfort he felt from the contact.

"Luffy! Please stop! We have to move away from the wall!"

Looking behind him, he saw Robin with her arms crossed with a worried look upon his face.

He also saw the meteor shooting towards her.

With a grunt, Luffy jumped off the wall towards her, surprising the woman and reaching her just as fire consumed them both.

* * *

Jinbe found himself searching for the two Straw Hats as Moriah retreated before the attack. A bright light drew his attention, and he saw the flying figure of Luffy headed away from Ace before Whitebeard had been injured by his own son.

In this great sea of violence, Jinbe had also seen how Buggy the Clown had somehow not only managed to hold off the Shichibukai, Hawkeye, but also delay the early execution of Ace.

The Marines had planned to cut the video feed from the Sabody Archipelago so that they could execute Ace whenever they wished. After all, the time they had set for the execution was to show the World that they held more power than even the infamous Whitebeard.

They had not counted on Buggy the Clown stealing one of the Video Den Den Mushis to show off to Sabody Archipelago's populace about how great of a pirate he was. His show was cut short as Aokoji mercifully (to the clown and the good people of Sabody Archipelago) froze him, his temporary pirate crew made up of former convicts of Impel Down, and the Video Den Den Mushi.

Sadly, none of that mattered now as they were all trapped within the confines of the walls the Marines had erected around them. All accesses to escape was cut off. The only part where the walls had not gone up, was around the body of Oars Jr., who had been able to reach the main island of Marineford.

Jinbe resumed his search for the two Straw Hats. Even if he were to die, he would not allow the brother of his friend, Ace, to die here, nor would he allow Luffy's precious family to perish at the hands of the Marines!

He fought his way through flames, metal projectiles, molten rock, and rays of light as he trekked through the field of ice.

The ice itself was taking more damage than it could sustain. Cannonfire and the attacks of the Pacifistas ripped through the ice and the assault from Admiral Akainu's meteors melted the ice. Melted was too weak of a word as it evaporated it before contact and boiled any water it landed in. Not only were the pirates being crushed and burned by the falling magma, but when they landed in the water they were boiled alive.

The fishman did what he could. He could not pass all of his allies by as they were overwhelmed by this new obstacle. He pulled many out of the boiling water and deflected attacks that would have killed many, but he prioritized Luffy and Robin's safety over helping everyone unfortunate soul in his path.

His search was concluded as he reached the walls. He saw Robin stopping a rampaging Luffy from hitting the walls in vain, but was unable to reach them before the meteor hit their position.

Thinking fast, Jinbe dove into the water and fetched the two out from its unbearable heat.

* * *

Luffy had been awake, but Robin had a nasty gash on her forehead. Strange flower petals started peeling off her skin, each petal making her wound better, but she would not regain consciousness.

"Jinbe...! I'm glad you're here!"

As the fishman had plucked the two from the water, Luffy had water pouring from his mouth and had heaved loudly. He was on his hands and knees as he looked up at Jinbe.

Jinbe held Robin in his arms, as he considered her to be safer with him than on the unstable ice.

"Luffy-kun! We must retreat for now! At this rate, our position will be bombarded by enemy fire!"

"Wait!" Luffy stretched an arm out and his hand grasped Jinbe's shoulder.

A distant explosion rung through the air and shook the ice they were on. Luffy almost fell back into the water, but was able to avoid the fate of being boiled alive as Jinbe supported his hand.

"I need you to help me get over this wall!"

"What?!"

Looking into his eyes, Jinbe could tell Luffy was serious about his request.

"Please, Jinbe! They're going to execute Ace soon! I have to get over!"

"Luffy-kun! Are you insane!? If you were go over now, you will be up against the entire Marine army!"

"I don't care!" Luffy shouted as his skin turned white.

"I...I can buy some time for Ace! I ha-!"

"EVERYONE!" The booming voice of Whitebeard was heard even over all of the destruction, "CLIMB OVER OARS! GO FORWARD INTO THE COURTYARD!"

Jinbe looked at the woman he held in his arms, and back towards Luffy.

"Take care of her, Jinbe!"

Sighing, Jinbe spotted Ivankov making his way to their position.

"Alright...I will help you get over the wall! Tell me what you plan to do!"

* * *

Darkness had clouded his sight, but as he slowly regained consciousness, he realized that the fighting was still going on. He slowly lifted his body from the ground as he heard the voice of his father.

"I...I can keep going!"

Many were taken aback as Oars Jr. rose from the ground, despite all of the injuries he had taken.

"Oars! We need your strength to reach Ace!" His father called out to him even now as he looked down at the Marines.

"Alright, Old Man!" Oars replied as he batted a few enemies away with his gigantic arm.

"Joz! I think it's time we reveal our trump card as well!"

The diamondman nodded towards Whitebeard as he heard the order. They had just lost the Moby Dick, and all of the Whitebeard Pirates gave a small apology to the ship they called their home for so many years.

Whitebeard was prepared to issue more orders until his eye happened to cross over Ace's little brother. He had been standing with Jinbe and Emporio Ivankov. Nico Robin appeared unconscious in Jinbe's arms. They looked to be planning something of their own as well.

Jinbe handed the woman to Ivankov. He then jumped into the pool of boiling water nearby along with Luffy.

The wizened pirate wondered why a Devil Fruit eater would willing jump into water at a time like this, but his question was answered a moment later.

A giant column of water shot from the sea and arced over the wall.

"That recklessness of his...is a lot like his brother's!"

Even if it was one of the stupidest, craziest, and wildest things he had ever seen, Whitebeard grinned.

He didn't mind such people. He respected that type of person!

* * *

The Marines were planning on eliminating all enemy pirates as they were trapped in the walls, but Oars had foiled that plan. They then changed to intercept and catch the pirates in a bottleneck around the opening. Concentrating all fire on the opening would eliminate most, if not, all of enemies that would dare cross that path.

They didn't expect a torrent of water to leap over the wall and crash into the earth of Marineford, depositing the one riding the current.

Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and regarded as one of the 11 supernovas, the 11 most feared rookie pirates in "Paradise", stood hunched over in the middle of the most Elite Marines the World Government had to offer, holding a broken mast. All 3 Admirals stood behind the group, prepared to defend any attacks that would reach the execution platform.

With a mighty roar, Luffy felled every Marine around him except for the Admirals.

"You certainly are a bold one, "Akainu snorted derisively, "Dragon's Son."

"Jeez...isn't this stage a bit too much for you, Straw Hat?" Aokoji looked less than pleased as he let loose another sigh, his breath forming a little mist.

"You certainly are a scary one, Straw Hat Luffy ~" Kizaru drawled out slowly as he grinned at the pirate captain.

Luffy's abyssal eyes settled on the Admirals as he let out a low growl.

* * *

Ace himself saw how Luffy had changed. Seeing him now brought back the old memories of being attacked that one fateful night.

The white skin, the teeth...all of it reminded him on how the monster within Luffy had emerged due to the World taking his innocence.

But...those eyes...

The deep dark pits that looked menacing to most, looked scared to Ace. He felt as though Luffy himself was looking right at him, pleading and praying to any higher power for the strength to save him.

For the first time in 10 years, Ace thought he was looking at the same Luffy that had cried his eyes out when he returned safely from the Gray Terminal Incident.

* * *

The rubberman jumped into the air, swinging the large mast towards the 3 powerful enemies in his way.

With a quick touch from Aokoji, it froze in midair.

Undeterred, Luffy kicked it a speed that was too much for many of the soldiers with a cry of "Stamp Gattling".

Equally unfazed, the frozen mast pieces passed through the Admirals.

Except they had been a little unprepared when Luffy touched the ground, his legs compressing and decompressing as he rose to shoot past them all, leaving a large number of footprints in the ground.

In a flash, Luffy covered most of the distance between him and Ace.

Luffy saw Ace's eyes widen as he realized how close Luffy was approaching the platform.

"Sorry! But you're far too slow!"

Looking to his left, Luffy saw Kizaru poised to kick him in the face with a kick charged with his light powers.

Instantly, the rubberman found himself crashing into one of the many buildings that lined the coast of Marineford.

"Prepare to execute the prisoner!"

Shocked, Luffy pulled himself from the rubble to see the two executioners that stood near Ace drop their blades upon their prisoner.

* * *

A gust of wind past the two and their halves were sent flying off the platform.

"You!" Sengoku felt his blood pressure rise as he saw who had stopped them, "I thought your grudge with Whitebeard would side you with us...!"

"Crocodile!"

The former Shichibukai surprised the Marines as he appeared in the midst of the soldiers.

"I'll end Whitebeard soon enough...but for right now..."

Crocodile looked more than pissed as he sneered at the Fleet Admiral.

"I want to erase those cocky smiles from your arrogant faces!"

* * *

Luffy saw how Crocodile helped him out, but couldn't watch as a blade of ice sank into his skin.

As the ice started to spread, the affected skin turned black and Luffy retreated.

"Sorry, Luffy, but I'm afraid you'll really have to die here!" Aokoji's face was blank as he pointed the blade of ice at Luffy's body.

Hissing, Luffy started to rise, but fell back to his knees.

Pain coursed through his body, blood poured from his mouth, and his vison was going dark.

Worse of all, he felt weak. His body wouldn't listen and even as he roared and bellowed, his body wouldn't respond.

"...This looks like it's the end for you, Luffy...just remember that you chose this path of death." Aokoji gave him a small, remorseful frown as he raised the sword.

He was sent flying to the side from a kick, courtesy of a human/phoenix hybrid that glowed with blue flames.

"1st Division Commander Marco..." Aokoji started as he recovered, "What a surprise..."

Marco said nothing as he kept his eyes glued to Aokoji's movements.

* * *

"Don't let any pass!" "Shoot the ship!"

"No, you fools!" Sengoku screamed into the Den Den Mushi, "Don't aim for the ship! Aim for Oars!"

It was far too late to push back against the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance.

The pirates revealed a 4th ship, hidden under the waves until this moment. Oars lifted it up and brought any surviving pirate out of the walls into the courtyard of Marineford.

"Is your head still attached...Ace!" Whitebeard called out to his son.

"The Whitebeard Pirates...! They've made it to the courtyard!"

With his order issued moments after it was too late, Oars was pelted with a plentiful amount of ammunition, putting the giant down.

"Oars..." Whitebeard growled as he raised his bisento into the air.

"Get down, my sons!" Needless to say, his sons obliged.

With a mighty swing, Whitebeard used his powers to shake the very air, causing many of the Elite Marines to fly away.

* * *

He prepared another swing, but Aokoji came from a blind spot, freezing Whitebeard in place.

It wasn't enough. The frozen Whitebeard, along with the ice block he was sealed in, started shaking violently.

"It looks like you can't freeze vibrations..." Aokoji murmured seconds before Whitebeard broke free and stabbed the iceman with his bisento.

"Did he just get stabbed with haki?!" Soldiers cried out after witnessing one of their leaders seemingly taken out.

"Don't be absurd!" Aokoji called out after using his abilities to shift his body so he wouldn't get hurt. Bits of ice surrounded the bladed end, letting him avoid the fatal attack.

Partisans of ice closed in on Whitebeard, but a reflective being smashed into Aokoji, forcing him to the ground.

"So you've come...3rd Divison Commander, "Diamond Joz"!" Aokoji wiped some blood away from his lips and healed the internal injuries he had sustained.

Joz stood in front of the Admiral as Whitebeard moved towards the execution platform.

* * *

Luffy waited for a few seconds to regain his strength, and after regaining the ability to move his body, he started running forward, to save Ace.

He was unaware that he was being surrounded by Vice-Admirals, and quickly learned of their presence as one cut his body, making a deep gash in his side.

Spitting out some of his blood, Luffy put most of his weight into his fist and swung it at the man, but missed entirely.

The other Vice-Admiral rushed towards him with a Shigan at the ready.

Putting a hand on the ground, Luffy made his limbs form into pumps and started to increase his blood pressure, but he only caused more blood to gush from his wound.

He was also unable to avoid the Shigan. The attack pierced his chest and the rubberman fell to his knees.

Luffy then received a piercing beam of light for his efforts.

"I'm impressed with your courage, Straw Hat Luffy," Kizaru told the wounded man as he walked lazily to his limp form, "But guts alone won't do anything!"

"You're far too weak to save your brother."

Luffy didn't respond as he was sent flying by a kick at high velocity.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! I think I'll try to get another chapter out on Sunday, but I don't know if I'll be able to.  
**


	31. Marineford (Part 4)

**Hello again, everyone! Here's another chapter for you all!**

**Okay, let me know if there are any mistakes. I sort of fell asleep during this.**

**Anyway, hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Toei.**

* * *

The World blurred as Luffy felt himself slip back into a dark void that engulfed his vision. He suddenly stopped after flying through the air.

He couldn't see who held his body up, but he did manage to mumble his brother's name out in desperation.

"That's enough, Straw Hat brat." A strong voice told him as it flung him to the side, "Someone treat him! I like reckless guys like that."

Someone stopped him from hitting the ground, and Luffy weakly opened one of his eyes.

A white monster held him in its arms as it grinned maniacally at him. Its eyes blended in with the darkness that surrounded them both.

"WAKE UP!"

* * *

Marco saw his chance. Aokoji and Akainu moved to intercept his father, while Kizaru played with Ace's brother.

He felt a little bad at how easily the rubberman was taken out, but Marco knew he would live. If he was anything like Ace had told him, the little guy was tough.

And it seems pops thought so as well. He knew the look in Whitebeard's eye as he looked at the rubberman.

He wanted him to be his son, but now wasn't the time for that. Marco flew towards Ace, intending on saving him as soon as he could.

As he got closer, the Mythical Zoan felt a little fear. It wasn't intentional, and he didn't know its origin, but he did know what it was.

It was the feeling of being in the presence of a predator. One that would eat him whole as soon as it co-

His internal musings were cut short as a fist smashed itself into his face.

The man it belonged to had been beyond terrifying! Marco had caught a glimpse of his face before he was sent flying away.

The demonic grin it gave him as he was pushed back felt like it had caught him in its jaws.

"None of you brats will reach Ace!"

The man sat down in a chair that belonged to one of the Admirals. It was located at the foot of the execution platform. He glared at all of the pirates, and even forced a few back.

"As long as I live, I won't let any of you pass!"

Monkey D. Garp joined the battle.

"Don't be intimidated by that man!" Whitebeard attempted to relight the spirits of his men.

"He's nothing more than an old Marine!"

His attention was brought down towards the screaming of his children.

"Don't be so cocky, Old Man." The scornful tone of Akainu reached his ears. The magmaman walked towards him at a calm pace as his heat burned both enemy and ally.

"You're from the same dying era, Whitebeard!"

* * *

A kind old man looked down at him as he escaped that black World. The warped voice had terrified him, but he felt as though he knew it from somewhere.

"Straw Hat boy!"

Ivankov approached from the side with Robin still held in his arms. Jinbe was nowhere to be seen, but Inazuma accompanied the Okama King.

"Hey...Iva-chan..." Luffy became angry with his quiet voice. All of his strength was missing, but in its place was excruciating pain.

"Don't move too much!" The doctor warned the wounded man.

"Iva-chan...! I..I need you to give me more of that adrenaline stuff!"

Ivankov's eyes widened as he knelt down. A recovered Inazuma cut a few Marines that attempted to attack them.

"Are you insane!? Look at yourself!"

Luffy would if he could, but now wasn't the time to be worried about himself! Ace still needed him!

"I cannot give you any more! You will die if you try to-!"

Luffy reached up and grabbed his arm. Robin stirred slightly from the movement.

"Dying...I would rather die than just lay here, unable to protect anyone!" Luffy shouted at his friend.

The Okama King was impressed by the surge of strength, but the look in Luffy's eyes scared him.

"Ace! He...he saved me so long ago...! But now...now he needs help! Iva-chan! I need your help to save Ace!"

If he didn't give Luffy the adrenaline he wanted, and if Ace really did die if Luffy was like this, then there was no telling what the young man would do.

* * *

Aokoji moved away from the frozen form of Joz, watching impassively as the man's arm cracked and fall off.

Whitebeard stopped his defense against Akainu as he grasped his chest with one hand. Bending over, blood poured out of his mouth.

Marco had cried out for his father after recovering from Garp's punch, but Kizaru caught the man off guard. No matter how fast your reflexes were, they were not moving at the speed of light.

Looking up, Whitebeard saw Akainu approaching.

He was unable to defend himself as the magma sank into his skin, burning his insides.

The worse part about the whole ordeal was Akainu's sadistic grin as he pulled his hand out, bringing a pool of blood with it.

* * *

"Hey...Straw Hat boy..." Luffy felt himself become more impatient by the second he was immobile.

"...What about Nico girl?! Are you willing to just leave her here!? What do you think will happen if you go out there and die?!"

Ivankov watched as Luffy's eyes darkened and grit his teeth in frustration.

"...I can't do anything as I am now...! I...I don't want Ace to die...but I don't want Robin to die either! I need your help...to protect my family, Iva-chan!"

The look that appeared in Luffy's eyes was one that Ivankov had seen many times. It was the look of a man willing to go beyond his strength, to go beyond the limitations he had and give everything he had to save his family.

"You...you really are his son, aren't you?"

"What-?!"

"Very well!" Ivankov handed Robin to an off-guard Inazuma and turned his fingers into needles.

"I'll give you another round of "Tension Hormones"! The chances of you surviving are very slim, but it's your life, Straw Hat boy!"

The needles pierced Luffy's skin and pumped the hormones into his body.

"Don't...don't make me regret this!"

Strength that had been lost, now flowed through Luffy's body. His skin turned white and he rose from the ground with his demonic visage visible to all. Steam burst from his skin and surrounded him in a white haze. Blood that had flowed through his various wounds was now dammed as it melted and knitted his flesh together in a painful suture.

The life returned in Luffy's eyes as he glanced over to Robin's form, but quickly returned to his brother. Two new executioners had taken their place by his side, ready for the order to execute Ace.

Luffy didn't like how they could so easily think that he would stand idly by as they murdered his brother.

So the monster reared his head back, taking a deep breath, and let loose the loudest roar it had ever given.

* * *

Ace was in the middle of hoping that his brother was alright as it happened. The roar that he had heard so long ago returned with a vengeance as it swept through the battlefield.

As if they were puppets with their strings cut, men and women dropped to the floor between he and the beast. His two executioners fell to the platform with foam rising from one, and the other shakily held onto consciousness before it faded.

The white monster was looking at him, but Ace was no longer afraid.

He had expected this for a long time. He didn't know if Luffy was there or not, but he held onto the feeling that arose in his heart.

It would reach him. The beast would make its way to him, and no matter what happened...

Ace was ready.

* * *

Looking up at the petals floating through the afternoon sky, she wrapped her arms around the one she devoted her life for. The grass tickled her back as she moved to see his face. His smile was something she loved about the man as she tried to cup his chin with her hand.

Her head started to hurt she was now standing alone. A storm of flower petals surrounded the woman who started wondering where she was.

A hand shot out of the mass of flora and held her aloft in the air. A multitude of eyes on a face not unlike her own stared back at her with a small frown.

'Robin-chan...how long are you going to continue napping?'

The historian grunted a little as she emerged from unconsciousness. The man that held her shifted his grip so he could allow the woman to stand if she could.

The small movement sent fire up into her limbs and she suppressed a scream.

"Are you alright, Nico Robin?" She recognized the man as Inazuma. His worry was all too visible through his calm facade.

"Please...! Put me down!" Biting her lip, Robin managed to fight through the pain that consumed her body.

"Nico girl! Do you have any injuries?!" Ivankov returned from blasting a Pacifista away with his "Hell Wink".

The rock tore at her skin as she set her hand on its rough surface. Every nerve in her body screamed at her as she slowly stood up.

"...I...I'm okay..." She was not able to fool the two Revolutionaries as she fell onto her knees.

"Stop! I'm going to assume that you're hypersensitive due to overuse! Any more, and you could possibly die of shock!" Ivankov informed the injured woman.

"...Luffy..." Ivankov was treated to a familiar sight as he looked into Robin's eyes, "...Where's Luffy?"

"Honestly...you two are going to get yourselves killed!" Ivankov turned his gaze away and held his massive head in one hand.

Life wasn't meant to be wasted so easily! These two held too much promise, and he couldn't stand to see them throwing that potential away!

"EVERYONE!"

It was hard to ignore Whitebeard's shout, even amidst the explosions.

"USE ALL OF YOUR STRENGTH...TO SUPPORT STRAW HAT LUFFY!"

* * *

Coby couldn't believe that any of this was happening. That he was actually in a warzone.

It seemed impossible...that a boy like him would be taken in by the "Hero of the Marines" only because he knew Luffy. That, and he had impressed Garp with his bravery/stupidity.

Meeting Luffy at Water 7 had been a miracle. His friend was doing well, and was preparing to head off towards the New World!

To think there was a time when the purple haired boy thought he wouldn't survive the first half of the Grand Line. Luffy was known as one of the 11 Supernovas, the most powerful rookie pirates that had emerged.

And from East Blue! The weakest sea! Luffy was really something!

But now...

Coby had seen how hard Luffy fought. How he had arrived at Marineford was a mystery, but knowing Luffy, he had probably pulled off the impossible.

Elite Marines, Pacifistas, Vice-Admirals! He had fought off each at least 1 or 2 of them at a time! He took on platoons of Elite Marines, reducing them to nothing more than bodies laying on the ground.

Coby had nearly passed out when Luffy confronted the 3 Admirals! The 3 strongest people in the Marines, and he stood unflinchingly in their presence!

Luffy really was something...! But moments ago, Coby saw his friend attacked by Vice-Admirals and Admiral Kizaru, being sent flying towards Whitebeard.

That was another thing! When did Luffy become allies with Whitebeard!? The rubberman practically insulted the "Strongest Man in the World", and came out unscathed! It seems Whitebeard even liked him!

When Whitebeard threw him to the side, Coby became concerned. He saw Luffy's condition, and it was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive! The injuries he had...Coby feared for Luffy's life, but that weird, large-headed man stabbed his fingers into Luffy, and the guy just got up!

And now, he was some sort of transformed beast! The only things human about Luffy were the clothes, and the silhouette. Other than that, nothing was recognizable.

His mouth was frozen in a twisted snarl with dagger-like teeth clenched tightly together. Coby couldn't even see his eyes, only seeing large black circles on his friend's face. Luffy's limbs were a reflective black color, unlike the chalky white the rest of his body had.

Aside from his appearance, Coby felt that strange oppressive aura in the air. Some of the Marines called it "haki", or something. The main part about it was that hardened Elite Marine soldiers fell like flies as they came close to the guy!

Coby seemed to realize how he was able to get all of this information. He had been wondering why it seemed like Luffy was gettting closer and closer.

It was because the purple-haired Marine was standing in Luffy's path to "Fire Fist" Ace!

Steeling his resolve, Coby knew he had to confront his friend. He had to show him how much he had grown from their last encounter!

Luffy's arms were a blur as he decimated another group of Marines. He crouched down low, and his legs seemed to form into a pump.

It was now or never!

"Sor-!" Coby's feet kicked the ground multiple times, but before he had even launched himself from the ground, a white clawed hand wrapped itself around his face.

The ground beneath Luffy was destroyed as it was pounded by both of Luffy's legs. The rubberman's Soru was much faster than Coby's.

Luff- no, Coby realized as he suddenly knew why many of the Marines had fallen before reaching Luffy.

The monster held Coby's head in its hand as it stared deep into his eyes.

Coby learned that the black circles were actually this thing's eyes as he peered into their abyss.

He gasped as he felt like his whole soul was being devoured by the monster! His body went rigid as cold seeped into his bones, his consciousness quickly fading.

'NO! I can't just be taken out...not like this! I..I need to show him! I need to show him...that I've become strong too...!'

Coby held on as much as he could, more than he thought he would be able to.

Gasping and sputtering, Coby reached up and grabbed his friend's arm.

The white monster's sneer turned into a wide grin as it brought its hand back, and then sent Coby straight into the ground, knocking the poor boy unconscious.

* * *

Robin watched as her captain threw the poor boy (Coby was his name, she distantly recalled in the back of her head) into the ground. It was a bit rough, but considering how he took care of the others, it was really tame.

She was reminded of her current situation as an air current passed by. What felt like needles shot through her extremities.

"Nico girl...you can't really think of helping Straw Hat boy at a time like this...?!"

She watched with fear as two Marine soldiers jumped at Luffy's back. Robin crossed her arms, but she flinched as the pain became unbearable. The spears they wielded sank into his back as he was crushing a man's head in his hands.

He roared and backfisted them both into another group. Another Marine slashed his chest while he was taking the spears from his back. The rubberman ripped the spears from his back and impaled the poor guy to the ground.

The wounds he had slowly melded together to stop the bleeding. The process was painful, quite evident from the screaming he made as his blood fused his flesh together.

Robin remembered how a certain swordsman took all of the pain Luffy held within himself. How the more suitable 1st mate risked his life for Luffy's sake.

"This pain..."

Ivankov was shocked to see Robin regain her footing and stare at her captain's back.

"This pain is nothing...! I have to help him!" She crossed her arms, even as sweat poured down her brow.

"Nico girl! Hold on a second!" Ivankov grabbed hold of her arms in an attempt to restrain her.

"Inazuma! Go help out Straw Hat boy!"

"Yes, right away!" Inazuma rushed off to help the rampaging monster Luffy turned into.

"Nico girl! I can't just let you risk your life as well! I still need to get you to Dragon! Don't worry about Straw Hat boy!" He turned to see Whitebeard being initially overwhelmed by many soldiers, but grabbing hold of his bisento with both hands, he flung all of his enemies away.

"If he is who I think he is...I can't afford to let him die here!"

Jinbe was also with Whitebeard. He was guarding the wizened pirate's back along with many of the other Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Turning back to Robin, he noticed she wasn't resisting. She actually held her arms crossed across her chest with her eyes closed.

She gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry, Ivankov-san. I appreciate your help and your concern, but Luffy..."

Robin opened her eyes to show Iva her sky blue irises.

"...He is the man I gave my life to! I will help him save his brother!"

Ivankov was surprised when his hands sank into her arms as her body turned into rose petals.

He could only stand there in shock as he felt helpless against their reckless decisions.

"...They have too much promise...!" Ivankov twisted his head to "Hell Wink" a poor soldier into oblivion.

"I cannot let them die here!"

* * *

Luffy smashed his fists repeatedly into the wave of soldiers that tried to intercept him, but was too slow to react to the Pacifistas charging their laser at him.

A feminine figure shielded his body from their sight.

"Hey! What are you-!?" Luffy regained enough sense to notice the woman in front of him.

The Pacifistas stopped charging their attacks as they scanned the new figure.

"Ally recognized. Please move from line of fire, Boa Hancock."

"Luffy! Now's your chance!" The Snake Empress cried out to Luffy as she stalled the Pacifistas.

"Hancock...! I really owe you!" His warped voice was music to the woman's ears as she nearly dropped to her knees at the rubberman's recognition.

"Boa Hancock. Please move from line of-"

A long, slender leg slammed into the Pacifista's face, turning it to stone and breaking it.

"Don't say my name, worthless machine!"

* * *

Luffy continued his way towards the execution platform, now brushing soldiers aside as he charged through the enemy's ranks.

A man rushed by Luffy, blade-like hands tearing into the ground, shaping it into a long, thin like structure.

"Luffy, go!"

Inazuma the Revolutionary sheared the ground in a way to form a bridge leading up to the execution platform. Many of the Marines recognized the man and attempted to attack him, but large concussive blasts blew them away, courtesy of Ivankov.

"Crab guy!" Luffy's warped voice called out as he ran as fast as he could, "Thank you!"

"Luffy! Watch out!"

A blast of wind that cut all in its path streaked towards the rubberman, who was too slow to notice it.

Flower petals formed around him, shoving him into the air and narrowly avoiding the attack.

Luffy landed on his feet, but slender arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a hug.

In the distance, a woman rampaged about a venomous she-devil.

The rubberman pulled away a little to see that his historian was hugging him.

"Robin!" He smiled, but it diminished as he looked at her face. She was sweating, and her brow was furrowed. Her jaw was clenched slightly as she tried to form a smile.

"Hey...you're hurt..."

"Luffy...I just want you to know..." Her face closed in on his.

Despondent, shrill cries erupted in the background.

Luffy was surprised as she touched her forehead to his.

Pain was replaced by worry on her face.

"No matter what happens...please...let's go back home..."

He took her hands into his. Her smile finally showed as he stared into her eyes.

"Of course! We'll all go home, Robin!"

His eyes widened when she smashed her lips against his.

Robin pulled away to show a small similar to his own, her eyes closed happily.

"Fufufufufu...! Alright then!"

Black arms erupted from all of the Marines that tried to subdue them in their moment.

"Go save your brother, Luffy!"

Robin pulled away from him, cloned limbs sprouted from her own to hold onto his hands as she traveled a few feet.

She swung her arms and her cloned limbs to throw Luffy onto the makeshift bridge, crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Anyone who tried to intercept Luffy's flight was stopped as arms erupted from their bodies.

'Fufufufu...looks like Robin-chan's all grown up now ~' Hana's usual mocking tone was replaced by a slightly elated one. Even her clone must have felt the torrent of emotions she experienced.

'I have no regrets, Hana. I'll do all in my power to help my captain save his brother.' She watched as Kizaru, Akainu, and Aokoji tried to intercept the rubberman's flight, but was hindered by the Whitebeard Pirates.

Someone started to close in on her, but was stopped by the most unexpected person.

"I never thought you would be the one to help us, Crocodile."

The former Shichibukai snorted as he held off the blade of Hawkeye.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Nico Robin. I just don't want these arrogant pricks to do as they please!"

"Whatever you say..." She smirked as she switched with a clone.

"Banana."

Her clone was promptly destroyed after she switched with it. She made sure to let him hear her giggle before she left, and wasn't disappointed in the swearing he directed towards her and Luffy.

* * *

Most of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines were shocked to see Monkey D. Luffy running up the bridge.

Oars Jr. had failed, Marco had failed, and to some degree, Whitebeard, the "Strongest Man in the World", failed. But this young rookie was doing what nobody here expected him to do.

He was climbing towards Ace! He was almost there!

A crash on the other end of the makeshift bridge blew up a lot of dust. The bridge felt like it was starting to break.

As the dust cleared, the Marines cheered while the pirates fell into more despair.

* * *

He stood there silently as he watched the little white devil make its way towards its brother.

"Hey, Old Man! What are you doing!? Get out of my way!" Luffy screamed as he recognized the crazy old guy back from Water 7.

Monkey D. Garp, the "Hero of the Marines" let out a sigh as the bridge started to break where he stood.

He had watched the battles with a grim understanding. Pirates were trying to save one of their own, so he, as a Marine, was to guard the prisoner with his life! He was the last line of defense! The sentinel that would stop all assaults, so they could execute the pirate they had captive.

But hell, he didn't feel like he was enacting Justice upon the World. Whitebeard, they started this fight, was someone who he respected! He was from his age, the age of Roger! Sure, they fought a lot, but the guy wasn't that bad. He just wanted to save his son from death!

It was a lot different than the Marines he used to know and love. All of his friends had grown colder, and more distant. As he stood next to Sengoku, he didn't even know if he was the same man from all those years ago! And Ace...was a lot more hurt than he had expected.

The little brat thought he was to blame for Luffy's stay at the Facility. That it was his fault that his brother was trapped in an artificial hell for 7 years!

It hurt Garp to see all of this. He just didn't understand why things didn't work out like they were supposed to! Ace and Luffy were supposed to be ideal Marines! Serving Justice, and helping the World become a better place and all that crap!

They were supposed to be free! The crimes that their fathers committed washed away by their good deeds and loyalty!

But now...he, as a Marine, was to destroy the pirate known as Straw Hat Luffy and watch "Fire Fist" Ace die the same way his father did.

Before the battle, Garp looked deep into himself. Ace...he had wronged Ace and Luffy all those years ago when he did nothing. They were being hurt, and he just stood by, ignoring their need for him.

That is why Garp had made a decision. One that he knew was against everything he knew. One that he knew would possibly get him killed...

But it was one that he wouldn't regret. He would redeem himself only a little, but he would stand around no longer.

Watching Luffy approach him on the bridge, Garp chose a side.

* * *

The two forces on the battlefield might have been fighting, but nobody missed Luffy's ascent to Ace. They didn't miss a single detail as Garp lunged for Luffy, and bring his fists towards the young pirate.

"No! He's going to kill that brat!"

"Garp's going to save the day!"

"Stop him, Vice-Admiral! Please!"

"Straw Hat! Don't give up!"

* * *

The cries from the battlefield didn't reach the two on the bridge. Luffy was stunned by what was happening as Garp reached him.

"Hey...Old Man!? Let me go already!"

Garp didn't say a word as he hugged his grandson. He tried to recall a time in which he had ever hugged his grandson, but couldn't find a single memory.

Had he never given his grandson a hug before? He knew he wasn't that kind of grandfather, but surely he must have given the little guy one earlier in his life!

No such memory existed. Garp realized that this was the first time he had ever hugged his grandson in his 17 years of life.

"Luffy, listen carefully." Garp brought the fist that had the lanyard coming out of it.

The rubberman watched as the hand opened to reveal a key.

"This is for Ace's cuffs! After you take these keys, I want you to release him as quickly as you can!"

Taking the key, Luffy wondered why the man was helping him like this.

"Aren't...aren't you my enemy?"

The old Marine was frowning as he still held onto the young man.

"I'm making my decision, Luffy. Even if you two chose to live as pirates..."

He smiled widely. Luffy thought it looked a little like his own.

"...I'm choosing to be your grandfather! Now...I need you to do one more thing for me!"

The rubberman just stared at the old guy as he loosened the hug.

"I need you to hit me, Luffy!"

"What?"

"I need you to knock me away! If I act now, Sengoku would know immediately what I was up to!"

Garp lost his smile as he let out a sigh.

"Hmph, but if you hit me away, that should shock him. He would never expect his friend to just be defeated by a young rookie like you."

The Straw Hat captain formed a fist, but looked uncertain. Garp caught this uncertainty, and knew what would convince the young man.

"...Luffy?"

"Huh-?"

"I'm the one responsible for sending you to the Facility."

As if he set off a bomb, the Haoshoku aura that Luffy grew in power. The bridge was starting to collapse as the rubberman's willpower affected the World around him.

Luffy lost his expression and stared blankly at the old Marine in front of him.

"I'm the one who's to blame for your imprisonment! The one responsible for your torture, Luffy!"

The monster inside the young man raged from within! This man was to blame! This man was the reason why!

Luffy brought his fist back as his manifestation became stronger, allowing Garp to see what he had done to his grandson.

As the fist drove itself into his face, Garp thanked the younger man.

* * *

Robin watched the scene as she defended herself and her temporary allies. She saw the tears that peaked at the corners of the old Marine's eyes.

But she was concerned how her captain stood for a second after he hit the man.

"Luffy..."

The screams the Marines made as her black hands broke their bodies didn't interrupt her view of her captain.

* * *

Luffy stood quietly after hitting the old man. He felt something wet trail down his cheek, and thought the maybe the old guy had wounded him.

Reaching up with a clawed finger, he was surprised that the color of the liquid wasn't red.

"I'm...crying?"

Shaking his head, Luffy shot up the stone bridge, reaching the platform as it collapsed.

* * *

Upon arrival, Luffy noticed the large guy in the white suit took a few steps back in surprise.

The fighting started to stop as everyone watched Luffy reach the execution platform.

"That key...where did you get it!?" The man in white gasped out.

He didn't respond to the question. He looked at his brother who was in a similar state of shock.

* * *

"Hey, I made it...!"

The white monstrosity muttered as it showed Ace the key to the lock. The grin on its face reminded the young man of his brother. A solitary stream of tears fell down its face.

"I've...I've come to take you back home..."

"Ace!"

"...Luffy!"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but I think it might be Tuesday, possibly Monday if I'm not too busy. **


	32. Marineford (Part 5)

**Hello again, everyone! Here's another chapter for you all!**

**I felt really disappointed in Sengoku's speech. I might change it later if I receive a magical epiphany or something, but it will remain the same!**

**Hope you all enjoy!**

**I do not own One Piece as that belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Toei.**

* * *

The air was thick with smoke, debris, and the smell of death. After all the sacrifices, after all of the struggles and hardships...

Luffy stood in front of Ace with the keys to his cuffs. The only enemy was in a state of shock after all of his plans had failed to hold up against the unknown variable known as Monkey D. Luffy.

His hand trembled as he lowered it closer to the cuffs. He hoped that despite how badly he was shaking, he would be able to get the key through the hole.

A bright light blinded him for a moment, and when his vision returned, the key had been cut in half.

He stared in shock at the key for a moment. His hopes of rescuing Ace rested in the now dest-

His finger extended into the lock and he bit deeply into his thumb.

"DON'T THINK I'LL JUST LET YOU DO AS YOU PLEASE!"

The man in white grew to gigantic proportions and had a golden glow emanating from his body. His fist was cocked into the air to destroy the two pirates.

"Huh...?" Luffy looked to the source of the voice and saw that one of the executioners were waking up.

"3?!"

"That's Mr. 3!" The man shouted back as he got up on his knees. He noticed something strange and looked up.

"AHH! What the hell is that!?" Mr. 3 screamed in fear.

"3! Keep Ace safe!" Luffy retracted his finger from the lock and glared up at the golden man.

"Huh..!? That's Mr.-! What are you-!? Gah...! Never mind!"

"Candle Wall!" The wax dome covered him and Ace from Sengoku's wrath.

The fist came crashing down, but Luffy used his "Gear 3rd" to intercept the blow.

He grunted in pain, his rubber body doing nothing to soften the attack, and the execution platform collapsed.

Mr. 3 grabbed Ace and pulled him close as they fell.

* * *

Luffy's rubber body contorted in a strange way before an area underneath one of his ribs popped, sending air flying out from within his bones. The rubberman deflated painfully and dropped down near his falling friends.

"3! What are you doing here?!" Luffy grabbed his side, but he knew the pain was worse than what he could feel. The adrenaline in his system dulled everything.

Taking a look at who he was holding, Mr. 3 looked strange as wax moved like liquid in his hands.

"If I told you I was here to respect the wishes of my dead friend...!"

A key formed n his hands. He had seen the remnants of the key before he had been dropped.

"WOULD YOU LAUGH AT ME...!?"

Mr. 3, in a rare display of bravery, clenched his teeth and stared the demonized Luffy in the eyes.

Not even a second passed by as Luffy knew why Mr. 3 was doing this.

The flower of friendship really can bloom in Hell.

"Of course not!"

"Then free your brother, Straw Hat!" The candleman threw the key towards Luffy.

"Don't let them free the prisoner!" Sengoku had no need for a Den Den Mushi as he bellowed loudly, "SHOOT THEM! Stop them NOW!"

All of the Marines responded as quickly as they could. Hundreds, if not, thousands of cannons pointed at the three pirates in midair before letting loose their destructive payload.

The key fit snugly before the explosions erupted all around them.

* * *

Everyone stared at the plume in varying degrees of emotion.

Some hoped that they had perished. Some hoped they could retrieve the two so they could treat their wounds.

One wished that his son was alright. Two begged to some sort of higher power that the one they loved was okay. Three hoped they could still keep their promise to protect their charges, while four wanted to see what kind of era would emerge from what would happen next.

"Wait...! There's something in the smoke!"

A dim orange light grew from within the cloud of debris, growing larger and brighter before a plume of flames shot out from within.

"You're...you're the same as always, Luffy...!"

Many felt their hearts lighten from within their chests while others felt an uneasy knot form deep within.

"Always doing the stupidest things...!"

The black smoke was consumed from within by the flames that could only be produced by one man.

"Fire Fist" Ace held Luffy in one hand as he cleared a path for them with the other. Mr. 3 held onto Luffy's other arm for dear life.

Luffy started to laugh as he understood what had just happened.

"Ace...!"

The rubberman's cry was joined by a thousand more voices from the courtyard.

* * *

They landed pretty smoothly, even if it was a rushed one. Luffy and Ace had plenty of experience of falling from great heights.

The same could not be said for Mr. 3. He landed hard on his neck, and started writhing on the ground in pain before running off to hide. His bravery was already spent from all of his hard work, so Luffy could repay him by doing his job and acting as a distraction.

"Stop them! Stop "Fire Fist" Ace and Straw Hat Luffy!"

Mr. 3 would not be disappointed.

* * *

Ace jumped back into the air to push Luffy's head down just as two Marines tried to cut his brother into pieces. Luffy retaliated by shooting his arms to his his sides, sending the two flying.

The older brother leaned forward and brought a fist forward, sending a column of orange flames out to engulf the enemy.

Looking back, Ace saw that more Marines had snuck up on Luffy as he used a "Kama" to bat more of the Marines aside.

Before he could intervene, black arms erupted from their bodies and grab a hold of their limbs.

The sight of watching men break in half from arms sprouting from their bodies was something Ace never expected to see in his life.

"Luffy! You're alright!"

Turning to the voice, Ace started to smile.

"Hey! It's you! The woman from Sandy Island!"

Robin looked surprised as Ace seemed to remember who she was.

"Hehehehe...looks like you're keeping an eye on my brother, like I asked!"

"Oh?! Ace! You know Robin?" Luffy saw the two as he ran back to them. Fighting raged all around them, so they had to avoid a few attacks from their enemies.

"Yeah! She's that weird lady I saw near your ship near Nanohana! She was stalking you on a giant turtle!"

The historian preferred "reconnaissance information gathering", but she really was stalking him.

"Hm? She was there? Oh yeah! That turtle was pretty cool!" Luffy grinned as he smashed a man's head into the ground. Unlike how he treated Coby, the man's head splattered like a watermelon.

"You didn't need to ask me to watch him, Ace-san." Robin spoke to the fireman as more Marines had arms erupt from their chests in a geyser of blood, "I would have followed Luffy even if you told me not to."

Ace felt his grin coming back as he pointed his fingers like guns at the Marines before blasting them away with a hail of fire.

"Is that so?" The three started running together as the Marines fell back from their assault.

* * *

Luffy told his brother about all of the adventures he had after he had left the Straw Hat crew at Nanohana. How he stopped Crocodile and saved his friend Vivi's country.

After that tale, Aokoji tried to stop the group, but Ace just melted his ice and another Division Commander arrived to hold the man off. After seeing the iceman, Luffy told Ace about his first meeting with the Admiral.

"Luffy? What about the Davy Back Fights?" Robin quipped from behind the two as she crippled a Marine from afar.

"David's Back Flight? What's that?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, accidentally avoiding a sword that was inches from his head.

He missed how the man burst into flames and limbs erupted from his body.

"Fufufufu...it's nothing, Luffy."

* * *

They continued onwards. The Straw Hat captain told his brother about Sky Island and God. About Water 7 and Enies Lobby. He left out anything related to the Facility, only choosing to talk about how strong the Marines were, but to his credit he was pretty distracted as he attacked the Marines by using his "Gear 2nd" in his arms, managing to accelerate only his arms as they shot out at speed that couldn't be seen.

Luffy stumbled a bit on Thriller Bark and Sabody, but Robin was able to help him get through the tougher parts. Ace smiled as he saw how the woman interacted with his little brother.

"Luffy! You're growing up so fast! You're almost a man!" Ace slowed down as he watched Luffy turn to him in confusion. Robin merely giggled at the implication.

"Hey!"

"You've already got such a pretty girlfriend!"

"Girlfrie-?"

"You've gone on some crazy adventures!"

"Shishishi!"

"And what's more..." Ace slowed to a stop. Luffy and Robin followed after a moment and looked at him.

"...You've really gotten strong, Luffy." Ace gave his brother a small grin.

"I'm proud of you!"

The sounds of battle faded from Luffy's ears as his eyes widened. He couldn't stop a grin of his own from forming on his face.

"You idiot...!" A clawed hand was brought to his eye, to wipe away a tear he would claim wasn't there. Robin put a hand on his shoulder with a smile as he closed them.

"What are you doing talking about something like that...! You can tell me that later, idiot!"

Ace laughed.

"Idiot?! Look at you! Same old cry baby from back then!"

"I'm not...crying!" Luffy sniffed loudly, "I'm just...so happy!"

Before they could speak any more, the ship that had helped the pirates escape the harbor started moving forward.

* * *

"Don't be stupid, Squard! Do you want to die here!?"

Squard stood at the bow of the ship with a few more good men that wanted to give their family a chance to escape. Squard himself was brandishing a large sword as he looked down at the Marines and his family.

"OF COURSE I DO! Even this...EVEN THIS IS NOT ENOUGH TO ATONE FOR WHAT I DID!" Squard yelled at his comrades as the ship continued its suicidal course to the heart of the Marine's fortifications.

"EVERYONE! GET AWAY AS WE HOLD THE-!"

The ship abruptly stopped and the men were almost thrown overboard.

"What the-!? What happened!? Why has the ship stopped?!"

Looking over the edge, the men on the ship were stunned along with anyone who watched the scene.

Whitebeard stood near the underside of the ship. He held it still with one hand as it tried to paddle its way forward. His sons on board quickly cut the power and the paddle's ceased their action.

"Pops!"

"The pain of burying a child..." Whitebeard's tone was more rage filled than when he had been stabbed by the man earlier, but many noticed the tinge of anguish hidden deep within.

"DON'T YOU REALIZE HOW HARD THAT IS, SQUARD!?"

Blood leaked from the man's lips as he screamed, but his voice never wavered.

"Don't get so full of yourself! That one slash isn't enough to kill me! And even so, nobody lives forever...!"

The Whitebeard Pirates stayed silent as they listened to their father. The Marines were still retreating after a failed attempt to stop Luffy's group.

"We've accomplished what we came here to do...!"

"Boss!"

"There's no reason for us to stay here...!" A violent cough was able to interrupt his dialogue with his sons, but he resumed after he recovered.

"This...is my final order...!"

"Father!"

"...As your captain! So listen well, Whitebeard Pirates..."

"Last order-!? What do you me-!?"

"YOU WILL ALL PART WITH ME HERE...AND RETURN SAFELY TO THE NEW WORLD!"

"No..! Old Man, what are you doing!?" Ace screamed as loud as he could with his brothers.

Whitebeard brought one of his arms to his other side. The air started to shake with the vibrations he was producing.

"The times...have passed me by...and there's no ship to take me to the next age!" He swung his arm at the mighty Marine Base on Marineford.

Deep cracks and fissures formed all over the base, causing tremendous damage on the outside, but absolutely destroying its insides.

"You...! Whitebeard...!" Sengoku growled as he witnessed his home fall apart.

"It's been...a long and extraordinary journey... so now let's finish this..." Whitebeard grinned, even as his own injuries started to weaken him.

"...Marines!"

* * *

Garp slowly rose from the debris Luffy had launched him into. A few nearby Marines had asked if he was alright, but he wouldn't answer them.

Of course he wasn't alright! His shitty little grandson just clocked him good! Feeling his jaw, he was impressed at Luffy's strength.

Maybe he had inherited the "Fist of Love"? Garp laughed at the thought.

Watching Whitebeard destroy most of the Marine Base, Garp felt himself agreeing with his longtime enemy.

An ending to this era...sounded good to him!

* * *

Fire consumed all in his way! He wouldn't let this moment go by! He couldn't just leave now, and hold these words in his heart!

"Ace...! Where are you-?!"

Silently apologizing to Luffy, he made his way towards the one man that he had even considered to be his "father".

Whitebeard was swinging his bisento left and right, using his quake powers as well to stave off the Marines, but Ace blasted them away so he could be alone with Whitebeard.

Ace bowed low, just as he once asked Makino to show him. She told him that he was only supposed to do it when he was sorry, or really grateful, and since he felt those two emotions strongly, he felt like this was a good time.

"Don't..." The deep voice of his father rang out before he was about to pour the words from his soul out.

"I don't need...your words..." The power seemed to fade as Whitebeard's tone took more of a caring tone. One full of parental nervousness and fatherly love.

"Just tell me..." Ace could feel his gaze on the Whitebeard symbol on his back.

Like his father, he never allowed anything to mar the symbol of his pride.

"Was I...a good father...?"

The tears, Ace could not stop. Nor could he stop the mournful frown, or the choked sobs he let out.

"..T..The...The Best...!"

Whitebeard said nothing, choosing to walk away while laughing happily.

* * *

After rejoining with his brother, Ace tore through the ranks of the Marines. He intended on getting his brother away from this wretched place as soon as he could! Luckily, Jinbe had arrived, saying he would aid in their escape.

"So...that's it?"

The sinister tone that called to them stopped Ace in his tracks. Many screams were silenced as molten rock melted nearby pirates and Marines.

"You Whitebeard Pirates save your "brother" and flee like rats?!"

Ace realized who the speaker was. How this man had tricked one of his own, and how he cruelly murdered his friends and family!

"Hey-! Ace! What are you doing!?" Luffy called out as he noticed his brother's hesitation. The others looked back and saw who their enemy was.

"But, then again, that man is the captain! A weak old man from a decrepit and dying era!"

Admiral Akainu stood in the center of melted corpses and weaponry. The heat he produced was far too much for anyone to handle.

"...Take that back..."

"Hm? Did the rat just say-?"

"I SAID, TAKE THAT BACK!" Ace screamed in fury as he turned to face the Admiral.

"Wait! Ace-!"

"Keep going, Luffy!" Ace shouted at his brother, "Keep running! Get out of here!"

"Don't fight him, Ace!"

"I can't forgive...anyone that mocks my father!" Ace shot forward with his fist cocked back, flames surrounding it.

"Luffy! Ace will catch up! We must hurry!" Jinbe pushed the younger man away from the fight.

They left just as the two clashed.

* * *

Ace recoiled as his hand was melted to the bone. He let out a grunt of pain as his hand regenerated.

"Father? Is that what you trash call him? How pathetic...!" Akainu stopped his pace to observe his opponent.

"He's a loser! A failure from the past generation!"

"Shut up!" Ace roared as he felt his flames grow brighter.

"He couldn't best Roger, so he settled for this?! Gathering a bunch of weaklings and cowards, parading around the ocean, and becoming their "father"!? What a weak man!"

"What do you know of power, you bastard!? You don't know anything!" Ace rose to his feet and glared hatefully at the man who dared to talk of his father in this way.

"I know that you're at your limit! Your Devil Fruit cannot compare to mine!" Akaniu demonstrated by turning his hand into magma. Weapons that laid at his feet were melted, and even the earth beneath him was converted into lava.

"And power...! I know all about power! Even about the power that those two, "Straw Hats" wield!"

At the mention of his brother's group, Ace felt his rage disappear.

"Dragon's son, Monkey D. Luffy, possesses a unique gift! One that could be used to increase our power!"

Ace didn't know why he felt so numb. The word, "used", made ripples in the numbness, but he couldn't tell why he felt like that.

"And Nico Robin! Last Historian from Ohara! And more than that...her Hana Hana Fruit can be applied to others! Think about it! A Marine soldier with two Devil Fruit powers!"

Akainu cocked his fist back as he prepared to attack the distracted 2nd Division Commander.

"It amazes me to imagine a soldier, that doesn't even have to be near the enemy! They could just burst into flame as magma erupts from their skin!"

The numbness felt unreal to Ace. It felt massive, and unknown. Something that he had never tapped into before, was just sitting underneath the surface.

He knew what this numbness was now. He could even give it a name.

"Hey...you bastard..."

Akainu raised an eyebrow as he saw Ace looking at one hand as he held his arm with the other.

"You said...I was at my limit? That my Devil Fruit cannot compare to yours?"

"It seems the rat has ears and a brain! It's the undeniable truth!"

Ace chuckled as he formed a fist.

"You're wrong."

"Hm?"

"I'm not going to run away from you."

"Stupid decision-"

"I can't run away...!" Ace's voice rose in volume as he put one leg behind him, cocking the same side fist with it.

"Not when my family is right there behind me!"

Akainu snorted in contempt.

"Family? You're delusional."

"Like I said...you're wrong...!"

The two stared at each other before they began their attack.

"I promised long ago...that my power..."

Akainu didn't wait as long as Ace. He sent his fist of magma flying towards Ace.

Ace didn't move. He stood still, his body devoid of flames as he watched the attack come closer.

"...Would have no limits!"

The feeling that Ace felt earlier was a rage that he had only felt once in his life. He had only felt it after finding what happened to his brother.

Ace was a little satisfied as he heard Akainu scream in pain as his blue flames burned through his magma.

* * *

Sengoku watched as Monkey D. Luffy and Nico Robin get further and further away from capture. Whitebeard was destroying his forces, and Gol D. Ace was holding back Akainu.

The Fleet Admiral felt more nervous than he did before the battle began.

His next move...was one that he had never wished to take. It would devote too many resources away from the main threat, but he didn't need to look back at the Marine Base to tell if it was salvageable.

The base was as good as gone. Whitebeard had made sure of that.

Taking this next step, was only a plan he had made on the spot. It was only made to make sure they could at least get something out of all of this.

And the targets weren't Whitebeard or Ace. Those two were too strong, and Whitebeard was already as good as dead.

Distantly, he thought how Garp would react to this news, but it didn't matter.

He would deal with Garp.

Picking up a Den Den Mushi, Sengoku readied his voice.

"Everyone! Cease fire on Whitebeard!" He ordered, watching as many of his men became confused.

"Focus all of your attention on capturing Straw Hat Luffy and Nico Robin! It is imperative that they are captured as soon as possible!"

Whitebeard himself was watching him as he made his new order. He must have been wondering why "Sengoku the Buddha" was making a move like this one.

"Whitebeard is already a dead man! He won't survive another day! Straw Hat Luffy and Nico Robin must not be allowed to escape! Aside from his name, Gol D. Ace isn't as dangerous as those two monsters!"

"Sengoku...!? What are you-!?" Garp had already made his way up to his position.

Good. He wouldn't need to go far to restrain his friend.

"You've seen it! Their power! Their strength! How they were able to save Gol D. Ace from his execution! They're far too dangerous to be allowed to leave!"

Many of the Marines searched for the two in question, but Sengoku could tell that his order was not being received as well as he wanted.

Then it was time. He had to reveal this...!

"Those two...are far too dangerous to be allowed to leave together! You can't possibly imagine what they're capable of...! Those two...!"

"Can create a monster with two Devil Fruit abilities!"

It took all of his strength to ignore the devastated scream a certain female Shichibukai let loose.

"...What...?"

Sengoku steeled himself for what he was about to face.

"...What are you talking about, Sengoku...!?"

Strong hands grabbed his shoulders to turn him around to face his aggressor.

Garp's eyes were filled with more hate than the Fleet Admiral had ever seen from the man.

More than the rage, he could tell that the man felt betrayed.

"Garp! Calm-!"

"CALM DOWN!? Sengoku...!" The man he knew as a friend tightened his grip and clenched his teeth loudly.

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT NICO ROBIN'S CHILD WAS-!?"

"Yes."

Garp stopped as Sengoku spoke.

"Nico Robin's child, the one she birthed in the Mariejois Facility..."

Sengoku felt Garp begin to shake. In rage, or grief, he couldn't tell.

"...Was your great granddaughter."

Hearing a familiar, tortured scream, they both turned to see where it had come from.

* * *

Moments earlier, a wounded Akainu attempted to drive off Ace.

The fireman had changed into something that was far different than anything the Admiral had ever faced. Blue flames surrounded his body while he was nothing more than a black silhouette in the middle.

"How?!" Akainu shouted out to his enemy, "How are you doing this!? Surely, you should burn through the ground if you're able to ha-!"

"My flames...!" Even Ace's voice had changed. It overflowed with an enormous amount of hatred, "Only burn garbage like you! Garbage like those Facilities!"

Akainu avoided another lance of blue fire that only disappeared as it touched the ground.

"They're not blind like your own, you son of a bi-!"

"Everyone! Cease fire on Whitebeard!"

The voice of Sengoku distracted the two fighters, and as they listened to his new orders, Ace felt himself panic.

Looking back at Akainu, he saw what he intended to do.

An explosion sent Ace flying towards Akainu, and the fireman drove his fists through the magmaman. He lifted the body of his enemy up to rip him into pieces.

Instead of pain, Akainu only wore a blank look on his face as he turned completely into magma.

Ace realized he had been trapped.

An eruption of magma consumed his body, but his flames were easily more powerful than Akainu's heat.

"Don't think you can kill me with this!"

"It's not meant to kill you."

Ace felt himself launched down into the stream of magma, and as it hardened around him, he screamed in unholy fury.

* * *

Akainu straightened his suit, looking at the underground tomb he had sealed Ace in.

He knew that a man like Ace wouldn't be kept down like that, but this was to buy time.

Looking past the fighting, it was far too easy to spot the retreating figures of Straw Hat Luffy and Nico Robin.

Fighting both would be too bothersome, but Akainu had a plan.

With his lower body turning into magma, he shot towards the two pirates.

* * *

Luffy had been running with Robin and Jinbe, fighting only when necessary, when the man with the loud voice suddenly told everyone to aim for them. His words were weird, but Luffy didn't care about any of it! He just wanted Robin and Ace to be safe!

Unfortunately, even if he didn't care about the words, Robin seemed to.

Her running slowed down until she had stopped. Luffy had been a little away from her, but had followed behind, so he stopped with her. Jinbe had continued on, helping Ivankov deal with some of the enemies that had harassed him.

Watching in confusion, he saw Robin mutter his name and look at him.

A weird sort of glow surrounded her. He stared into her eyes which showed so much pain, but also some sort of happiness.

"Hey, Robin-?" He raised his hand at her, stretching it to her so he could hold her hand.

Robin seemed to notice the glow too. She started to turn her head to the side.

A fist of magma consumed her head and her body fell to the floor.

Luffy rushed to her side, ignoring the man who had done this to her.

"Robin...! Hold on!"

He lifted her body in a panic and he tried to wipe the molten rock from her head.

"I'll help you...! You'll be alright!" The rubberman didn't wince as his hand touched the magma.

"Impressive." Luffy wanted to hate, but could only panic, "She seemed to have moved her head at the last second. How...unfortunate."

The magma burned, and his skin disintegrated, but he managed to get most of it off her face.

"Hey...! I got it off! You'll be fine...!"

He didn't know when he had started crying, but tears dropped down onto Robin's shirt as he called her name, attempting to wake her.

"Hey...Robin...?"

Her limp body didn't move as he watched the blood shroud her face. Her hair stuck to the ice they had reached before this happened. He felt her blood underneath his knees and on his hands.

"I was told that if I had to, I could eliminate one of you."

The monster within raged as Luffy stared at Robin, only half-listening to his words as he cried.

"You'll...you'll be okay! I...I was supposed to protect you...!"

This wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to go home! Together!

"Robin...?"

He tried to use Kenbunshoku. She was alive! It would tell him that she was fine!

Nothing.

"No..." The tears wouldn't stop.

"It's just a bit disappointing..." Luffy looked up to stare at nothing as his attention was fully focused on the one who did this.

"We really could have used her. So much wasted potential..."

His vision turned to red as the rage took a hold of him.

In the distance, Luffy heard himself scream.

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter will be coming up soon!  
**


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